


Justice

by TsukiMizuko



Category: Saint Seiya, 聖闘士星矢 Legend of Sanctuary | Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary (2014)
Genre: And I seem to have gotten past the writer's block., Angst, F/M, Family is important, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, I've already written most of this, Ikki is a Not a Jerk (Mostly), Right in the Feels (I hope), cross-posted to fanfiction.net
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:00:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 41,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24315439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsukiMizuko/pseuds/TsukiMizuko
Summary: Ikki burns his Cosmo, Esmeralda survives, and Shun is the one who changes. Justice is hard to come by, but the young Saints will manage, somehow.
Relationships: Esmeralda/Phoenix Ikki
Comments: 18
Kudos: 38





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, this is actually a story I posted to Fanfiction.net months ago, and I figured I might as well post it here while I'm waiting for my writer's block to go away.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy.

_Since time immemorial, the Gold Saints of the Zodiac have protected the goddess Athena from danger. Said to be the strongest of the Saints of Athena, these Saints are sworn to never leave the side of their goddess, to serve and protect, and to defend all of Sanctuary from the attacks of Athena's enemies._

_However, a war is not won by an army who only defends, and so, over the course of thousands of years, as the Holy Wars rage, Athena has amassed a group of Saints sworn to fight, to attack, and to hold the lines of battle until the arrival of their goddess._

_First came the Pegasus. The first Saint to ever land a blow on the god of the Underworld, Hades. The Pegasus is loyal to a fault, never faltering in their belief in the goddess of wisdom._

_Second was Andromeda. The fearless protector who defended Athena against Poseidon where even the Gold Saints failed. Andromeda is kind, gentle, a healer where others would hurt, loving where others would hate._

_Next came the Dragon. Wise beyond their years, firm in their belief. The Dragon does not waver in the face of adversity, nor flinch at the sight of danger._

_Fourth came Cygnus. Quiet, fierce Cygnus. Cygnus who holds their ground when faced with a god, who supports their comrades in times of need._

_Last came Phoenix. Once, many years ago, they were a symbol of fear and destruction. Now, the Phoenix is a sign of bravery, of freedom._

_Five Bronze Saints, each unique in power and temperament, each loyal to their goddess and to each other. These Saints head Athena's army as the Gold Saints cannot, fighting, protecting, as they are sworn._


	2. Battle on the Bridge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ikki returns to Japan after his training on Death Queen Island, accompanied by a new friend. But things don't stay quiet for long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the first actual chapter of Justice, I figured I'd post it now because I've got, like, the first twenty chapters of this story written already and the prologue is so short.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

Shun stood nervously in front of the Graude Foundation building, watching the other boys getting into the limousines that would take them to the docks or the airport. Today was the day that some of his friends would be leaving to start their Saint training. Seiya was headed to Greece to train for the Pegasus Bronze Cloth, Shiryu to China for the Dragon Bronze Cloth, and Shun's own older Ikki was leaving for a remote island called Death Queen Island to attempt to gain the Phoenix Bronze Cloth. There were a dozen or so other boys leaving for different destinations and different Cloths, but Shun wasn't very close to any of them.

Next to Shun were Hyoga, Jabu, Geki, and Ban. The other four boys were leaving in just two more days to head to their own training grounds. That would leave Shun as the only member of the one hundred Graude Foundation orphans left in the building, and honestly, he was a little worried. He couldn't imagine living in the big empty building with no one but Tatsumi and a few other guards around.

"Get moving!" Tatsumi yelled. "We don't have all day."

Shun didn't like Tatsumi. He was a cruel and a bully and was always punishing the orphans for little things like taking a break from training for a minute or two. He seemed to take special pleasure in going after Shun and Ikki, but Shun had no idea why. Sure Shun cried a lot, but Tatsumi's nastiness only made it worse.

The limos were departing, and suddenly Shun realized that this was the last time he would see his brother for years.

"Ikki!" He yelled as the limo heading to the docks drove away. Shun chased after it until it was well out of sight and he tripped, falling to his knees on the sidewalk. "Brother..." He whispered. Then he heard a shout from behind him.

"Get back here you little brat. No running off." It was Tatsumi, looking as angry as ever, with Miss Saori beside him watching coldly as Shun felt tears fill his eyes.

 _"Don't cry, Shun. We'll see each other in just a few years. And when we do, I'll be strong enough to protect you. So don't worry, be strong little brother."_ Ikki's parting words rang in Shun's head, and he took a deep breath, wiping the tears from his eyes and standing up to return to Tatsumi. He would probably be punished for running off, but Shun wasn't sure he cared. One week. Just one week, and then he'd be free of this place and back at the orphanage where he came from.

For the first time since the children had all drawn their training grounds, Shun was genuinely excited.

* * *

It had been a whole week since all the other boys had left for their training grounds, and that time had been the worst of Shun's life, bar none. Instead of making him train all day, Tatsumi had locked Shun in the tiny room he used to share with several of the other orphans and told him to stay put. Shun had spent each day with nothing to do. He had slept a lot, and when he wasn't sleeping he was counting scratches on the walls, or bumps on the ceiling, anything to keep his mind off the time he didn't even know was passing.

Shun leaned his head against the window of the limo as he let himself be lost in thought. As nervous as he was to go back to the orphanage, he was glad he would finally be free of Tatsumi and the other guards. At least at the orphanage Shun would be able to go to school like normal children did, and there wouldn't be people yelling at him for every little thing. At least, Shun hoped there wouldn't be. He couldn't imagine that there was anyone out there worse than Tatsumi.

"Come one kid, we're here." The driver called.

Shun blinked, realizing the car had stopped at some point while he was lost in thought. "Coming!" He called as he hopped out of the car.

And promptly stopped.

There was nothing. No buildings. No cars. Just an open road surrounded by trees.

 _This isn't the orphanage._ Shun realized with an unpleasant shock.

Suddenly, Shun's attention was drawn by the sound of a car engine starting up. He spun around and took two steps only to freeze.

The car was gone.

* * *

**Ten Years Later**

Ikki paced back and forth in the sitting room of Kido Manor, barely resisting the urge to growl in frustration.

"You're saying," He spoke, barely controlling his rage, "That you have no idea where my brother is?"

Axios watched Ikki calmly, unfazed by the boy's anger. "That is what I'm saying. I'm sorry, Ikki, but Shun has been missing ever since the day he was sent back to the orphanage."

"That-" Ikki started.

Before Ikki could finish what he was saying, Axios froze, his eyes going wide. "You need to go." He spoke, staring straight at Ikki.

"Go where?" Ikki demanded, quickly picking up on the man's sudden tension.

"The freeway that runs through the city. Tatsumi is bringing Saori back from school, but something is wrong. They're going to be crossing the bridge soon, head them off there. Take your Cloth, it will help you get there quicker. Go, now!" Ikki knew that voice, it was Axios's I-know-what-I'm-talking-about-so-don't-question-me voice, and it meant he was serious.

Ikki glanced down at Esmeralda, who had been watching the exchange curiously. She stood up. "This sounds important. I'll go too."

Axios raised a brow at that, but did not protest when Esmeralda stood up, tugging on the chain that hung around her neck, hidden under her dress.

Ikki nodded back and turned, heading out of the sitting room and down the hall to the entrance of the Kido manor. Esmeralda and Axios followed him. When he reached the front step, Ikki threw himself into the air, simultaneously pulling the chip off its chain around his neck and tossing it upwards. He grinned at the familiar feel of his armor settling over his body, the helmet and visor snapping into place last. He landed at the entrance to the Kido Estate and didn't hesitate to jump again, heading in the direction of the freeway.

Behind him there was a whoosh of air, and Esmeralda shot into the sky above him. Yellow-tipped grey wings spread magnificently against the backdrop of the blue sky, flapping hard to send Esmeralda higher.

Arriving at the freeway bridge in what was probably record time even for two Saints, Ikki and Esmeralda took up positions on one of the towers of the bridge just in time to see a clearly Cosmo-based attack send a strange figure flying. The attack originated from an ant-sized figure below them. Looking closely, Ikki realized that the person responsible for the attack was also wearing a Cloth, although he had no idea which one.

A moment later Ikki spotted what could only be Saori, standing dangerously close to a pile of flaming cars. Another Cloth-wearing figure appeared out of the flames, joined by another one who dropped in from above, both clearly after Saori.

Before Ikki could react someone was flying past him, another Cloth snapping into place on their body accompanied by a cry of "Lushan Rising Dragon!"

A massive dragon made of Cosmo shot from the person's fist and impacted the Saint who had stepped out of the flames, sending them flying off the bridge. The new arrival landed in front of Saori in a battle stance.

Esmeralda swooped down off the tower without a word, landing silently behind Saori and grabbing her, pulling her away and out of danger. The figure who had attack the second Saint who was after Saori glanced back to make sure the girl was okay, giving the third enemy the chance to jump up onto the tower next to the one Ikki still stood on.

The roar of a motorcycle drew Ikki's attention down to the ground. He saw Saori and Esmeralda jump apart as the motorcycle shot past them, using a car like a ramp to jump into the air. This person, too, donned a Cloth, taking out the Saint on the tower with an ice-based attack of some sort.

Ikki saw two more Cloth-wearing figures as they made relatively impressive leaps from the banks of the river on either side of the bridge.

He didn't wait for someone else to show up, throwing himself to intercept with a yell of "Phoenix Rising Wings!" The figure coming from the left burst into flames with a scream of pain and plummeted into the water below.

Without looking, Esmeralda threw one hand in the air. "Columba," She yelled, "Piercing Wind!" A stream of wind shot from her hand, blasting the last of the attacking Saints off-course and into the tower of the bridge that Ikki had been standing on a moment before. The Saint dropped limply to the ground and didn't get up again.

Ikki landed next to Saori, smirking at the shock on her face. To her credit, the girl didn't lose her clearly shaken cool as the five Saints who had saved her gathered around.

Ikki quickly recognized the other Saints. The first one he had seen when he arrived at the bridge was Seiya, brown hair as messy as ever and brown eyes full of excitement. The one with the dragon attack was Shiryu, his green-tinted black hair now reaching his waist and green eyes much too serious for a sixteen-year-old. The ice-user was Hyoga, the blond-haired, ice-blue-eyed half-Russian who Shun had been so fond of when they were kids.

Seiya rushed up as Hyoga joined Ikki, Esmeralda, Shiryu and Saori.

"You guys!" He yelled. "It's been ages! Shiryu! Hyoga! How've you been?"

Hyoga glanced in the direction his motorcycle had been thrown, as if wishing it was still in tact so he could get away. Shiryu just glared at Seiya. "Calm down Seiya, no need to get so excited." He spoke sharply. Ikki absently noted that Shiryu's voice had a strange lilt to it, probably something he had picked up in China.

"Where have you brats been?!" A voice suddenly demanded. Ikki sighed to himself. This was not what he was here for. "The Young Miss could have been killed!"

Ikki spun around, willing his helmet to disappear into his armor as he glared at Tatsumi. "And that's our problem how?" He asked blandly.

"It's your job to protect her!" Tatsumi snapped. "I should have known Death Queen Island wouldn't change your attitude even after ten years."

"You're right." Ikki sneered. "My attitude hasn't changed, and neither has the fact that _I don't like_ _you._ So if you're smart, you'll shut up and stay that way." Ikki felt a shot of satisfaction run through him when Tatsumi backed off, looking rightfully scared. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down." Esmeralda said softly, her eyes reproachful behind her battle mask. Ikki huffed but didn't say anything more. He'd made his point.

"Arguing aside, you need to call for another car." Shiryu said to Tatsumi. "The longer we're here the more danger Miss Saori will be in."

Tatsumi didn't say anything, but pulled out a cellphone and started dialing.

Ikki made a face. "I don't need a car, thanks. We'll meet you back at the Manor." He jerked his head at Esmeralda, who followed after him with nothing more than a quick glance back at the other young Saints before she took off into the sky.

Ikki didn't bother looking back. He couldn't care less about those kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are majorly appreciated, and are a huge motivator for me to keep writing.
> 
> See y'all next chapter.


	3. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chance to reflect and the first of many revelations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a hard chapter to write. I hope it turned out okay.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

Seiya frowned as he stood to the side while Tatsumi called the authorities to come start clearing the bridge. He was confused. That Saint had called Miss Saori a traitor, but Miss Saori was just Old Man Kido's granddaughter. There was no way she could be a traitor to Sanctuary. It just didn't make any sense.

* * *

Shiryu looked around at the wreckage caused by the attack on Miss Saori. Cars were overturned, people just starting to get out of them and look around now that the fighting had ended. Miss Saori was safe, but a number of others weren't. People were injured or even dead because a bunch of Saints decided they wanted to go after Miss Saori for no apparent reason.

* * *

 _What a mess._ Hyoga thought as he looked around. The battle between the Saints had left an almighty mess in its wake. Not that it mattered, the Graude Foundation would just throw some money at this and it would all go away. How typical of rich people. But that wasn't important to Hyoga. Finding out the truth. That was important.

* * *

It took two hours for the bridge to be clear enough that a car could come to pick up Saori and the Saints, and in that time Ikki and Esmeralda had returned to the Kido Manor and gotten properly settled in their rooms. When the others had arrived back Saori had requested their presence in the sitting room to discuss a few things. At the top of the list was a proper introduction of the various Saints to each other.

"I'd like to know exactly who Ikki has brought back with him from Death Queen Island." Saori said, sipping at her tea.

Esmeralda, also drinking a cup of tea, looked rather unaffected by Saori's bluntness. "I am Esmeralda, the Columba Saint." She explained. "I earned my Cloth the same day Ikki did, and when he decided to leave Death Queen Island, I went with him."

"I am Saori Kido. My grandfather, Mitsumasa Kido, was responsible for sending Ikki and the others to their training grounds."

"So I've been told, and who might the rest of you be?" Esmeralda addressed the other Saints.

"I'm Pegasus Seiya! I trained in Sanctuary in Greece."

"I am Shiryu, the Dragon Saint. I was trained in China."

"Cygnus Hyoga." Came Hyoga's the grunt.

"I am Axios." Axios introduced himself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Esmeralda smiled. From his place against the wall, Hyoga shifted slightly, a frown marring his face.

"Tell me, Miss Esmeralda, how did you come to possess the Columba Cloth, from what I've heard it has been dormant on Death Queen Island for centuries, perhaps longer than any other Cloth has ever remained unused."

"That is what they say." Esmeralda agreed mildly. "Though I'm surprised you know so much about the Cloths."

Axios smiled. "I was friends with Mitsumasa Kido. He told me a lot about Sanctuary and the Saints, and I have access to the Graude Foundation's database as well."

Hyoga scoffed at that. "Bullshit." He muttered, just loud enough for the others to hear.

"Hey! Watch your language around the Lady." Tatsumi snapped, looking ready to try to smack Hyoga until Saori waved him off calmly.

"What to you mean 'bullshit' Hyoga?" Shiryu asked.

"I mean that Axios is lying to us." Hyoga answered bluntly.

"And what, exactly, am I lying about?" Axios demanded coolly.

"Everything." Hyoga answered.

"I think you need to explain." Seiya told the Cygnus Saint.

Hyoga sighed. "During my training, my master took me to Sanctuary once. While I was there I met several of the Gold Saints. One of them was the Leo Gold Saint, Aiolia. I didn't see it then, but the two of you look a lot alike, and you told us you're from Greece."

Everyone turned to look at Axios curiously.

"I suppose you won't believe me if I tell you it's probably a coincidence, will you?" Axios guessed.

"Not really, no." Hyoga answered. "I also learned that Aiolia had an older brother who betrayed Sanctuary. He was supposedly caught and killed, but no body was ever brought back. It's too convenient that a man who looks just like the Gold Saint with the missing brother got involved with the man who was grooming orphans to become Saints."

Axios smiled tiredly. "Very clever, Hyoga. You're right, it is pretty convenient. I suppose you want to hear the truth, don't you?"

"You've got that right."

"Alright, but if I'm going to tell you the truth, it's going to be the full story of how this happened, and it's not short."

"Hold on!" Tatsumi snapped. "Axios you can't do this! You promised the Master that you wouldn't tell Miss Saori about this."

"Tell me about what, Tatsumi?" Saori demanded, frowning. "And why wouldn't Grandfather want me to know about it?"

Tatsumi froze, seemingly unsure of what to say. Ikki bit back a snort. Trust Tatsumi to open his big mouth and then not know how to get out of the hole he inevitably dug with it.

"I think," Esmeralda said slowly, "That Tatsumi is referring to the reason those Saints attacked you today."

Tatsumi growled. "You be quiet." He hissed at Esmeralda.

Esmeralda shook her head. "No, I won't be quiet. If there is some reason for Saints to be attacking Miss Saori, I think she deserves to know, as do the five of us, since we're involved in this now too."

There was nothing Tatsumi could say to the blonde Saint's words, so he just scowled and stepped back.

"Thank you, Esmeralda." Axios said.

Esmeralda just nodded sharply.

"I supposed the best place to start would be at the beginning. My name is Aiolos, and I am the Sagittarius Gold Saint."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a review, and see you next time.


	4. The Truth I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axios tells his story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all. I hope this has been a good story so far. Welcome to chapter three.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

"How were you the Sagittarius Gold Saint? You have a limp." Seiya asked.

"Be quiet and listen, Seiya." Shiryu admonished the Pegasus Saint.

"I didn't always have this limp." Axios-Aiolos-said patiently. "That's part of the story."

"Oh."

"Good, now listen. My brother Aiolia and I were brought to Sanctuary when we were children. From the beginning we were trained to be Gold Saints. I became the Sagittarius Saint, Aiolia was the Leo Saint. Things were quiet, peaceful. It was a simpler time. Then, sixteen years ago, Athena was reborn into this world as an infant. Everyone rejoiced, Athena's birth is a time for celebration, because it means that our goddess has returned to us. I was caught up in the celebrations as much as anyone else. Then, one night..."

* * *

**_Sanctuary, Sixteen years ago._ **

_"I was in my Temple, the House of Sagittarius, when I felt the need to go visit the baby Athena. I don't know what drove me to do it, just that it was an overwhelming feeling of being drawn to her._

_"I went to her room in the Temple of Athena, past the Pope's Chambers, and what I found there was not the peaceful scene I expected."_

_Aiolos moved before he could think. He heard the dull_ shink! _of the blade sinking into the fabric of Athena's bassinet, even as he drew out of lightspeed, turning to stare at the figure of the Pope, and the golden blade held in his hand. He clutched the wailing infant Athena close to his chest, shocked._

_"What are you doing, Your Holiness?" He demanded. "Why are you trying to kill the Athena?"_

_"Aiolos." The single word sent shivers down Aiolos's spine. That wasn't the Pope. It didn't sound at all like Master Shion._

_"Hand the baby over." The fake Pope ordered. "Athena must die."_

_"No!" Aiolos replied instantly. "What reason do you have to try to kill Athena? She is our goddess!"_

_"It doesn't matter! Are you going to disobey my orders?"_

_Aiolos just glared at the Pope. "If they mean killing our goddess, I will never obey your orders!" He spat. He threw an arm out, throwing a barrage of attacks at the Pope. Most of them missed, but one hit his mask. Aiolos froze in shock at what he saw._

_"That's impossible." He choked. "You're..."_

_Before he had a chance to do more, the fake Pope snarled._

_"Damn you, Aiolos!"_

_A moment later, Aiolos was forced to throw himself backwards out the window to avoid the responding barrage of attacks, several of which made contact, opening bloody gashes in his skin._

_With barely a thought, Aiolos called his Cloth to him, feeling the armor slip into place on his body. He took instantly to the skies, hearing, behind him, the fake Pope's enraged cries of "Aiolos is a traitor! He has tried to kill Athena, stop him!"_

_It wasn't long before Aiolos sensed, more than heard, more attacks headed his way. He swerved to avoid the green bolts of energy, which he quickly recognized as one of Shura's techniques. The Capricorn Saint was behind him, and coming up on his flank was a second Saint, the armor all too familiar._

_It was Gemini Saga._

_Aiolos took at deep breath and, clutching Athena tighter to him, he sped up, hoping to outrun the other Saints. No such luck._

_Saga and Shura kept on his tail, dogging him with attack after attack, until he was so distracted dodging them, that he barely noticed the figure in front of him in time. More attacks, this time from Saga alone, shot towards him. Aiolos twisted and turned, then folded his wings and dropped to avoid the last few bolts of blue energy._

_Just as he did, Shura came up on his left, Aiolos flipped over, tipping his head just in time to avoid Shura's closed fist as it shot over him._

_Before Aiolos could recover himself, he felt something grab onto him from behind. "Saga!" He cried in surprise._

_"Do it, Shura!" Saga yelled._

_Aiolos gripped Athena tighter as Shura sped towards them, his right arm drawn back and glowing green._

_"This is the end!" The Capricorn Saint yelled, swinging his arm down._

_Aiolos screamed in shock as Excalibur struck him and Saga, forcing them apart and sending them both tumbling from the skies._

_The last thing Aiolos saw as he lost consciousness was Shura, staring at him and Saga as they shot towards the ground._

* * *

**Kido Manor, Present day.**

"So that's what happened." Hyoga murmured. "You weren't the traitor, the Pope was."

"Yes, but it wasn't the Pope."

"What do you mean?" Seiya asked. "If it wasn't the Pope, who was it? And how did they end up in the Pope's clothes?"

"It was Saga." Aiolos said softly.

"What?" Shiryu breathed. "How could it have been one of the other Gold Saints?"

Aiolos shook his head. "I don't know. I can only guess that Saga killed Pope Shion and took his place, and that he's still in power today, sixteen years later."

"But the Pope I met the day I got my Cloth was really kind. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would try to kill his own Goddess."

"Saga was always very good at acting." Aiolos said. "I can only assume that he sees some value in keeping the status quo in Sanctuary."

"That aside," Ikki spoke up, watching Aiolos intently, "There's more to this story, isn't there? You haven't told us how you survived."

"You're right. I haven't told you that, not that there's much to tell. The next clear memory I have is of waking up in a hospital bed with Mitsumasa Kido leaning over me. Everything before that is just fragments, but this is important."

* * *

_**Kido Hospital, Sixteen years ago.** _

_"I remember feeling heavy. Tired. Like the whole world was weighing me down."_

_Aiolos blinked his eyes open slowly. The first thing he saw was the fuzzy outline of a face leaning over himself, a voice speaking in an unfamiliar language.  
_

_"Wha…" His first attempt at speaking came out raspy and weak. Aiolos swallowed, finding his throat painfully dry, and tried again. "What are... you saying? I... can't understand."_

_"Oh." Aiolos blinked a few times, and the face in his line of vision cleared, an old man with white hair and a bushy beard. It was the man who was speaking. "You speak Greek._ _Let me call a nurse to help sit you up and get you some water."_

_The man disappeared from Aiolos's field of vision. Several moments passed before Aiolos saw another person appear out of the corner of his eye, a woman this time. She did something, and Aiolos could feel himself being forcefully sat up._

_The woman leaned closer, holding a cup the Aiolos's lips. He drank without having to be told, relieved to find cool water flowing down his throat. The nurse stepped away once the glass was empty and s_ _aid something to the man, then left the room._

_"Who are you?" Aiolos managed to ask, his voice sounding considerably better now. "Where am I? What happened?"_

_"That's a lot of questions you have. But I must apologize. It seems I've failed to introduce myself. I am Mitsumasa Kido." The man finally introduced himself. "What of your name?"_

_Aiolos paused. Should he tell the man his real name? He knew for a fact that Sanctuary had no buildings with beds that sat up on their own, and there would be no reason for Sanctuary to put him anywhere other than the dungeon, since he was now considered a traitor, so he wasn't in Sanctuary._

_"Aiolos." He finally answered._

_"Aiolos. You are currently in the medical wing of my mansion in Tokyo in Japan. I found you in the Himalayas. You were injured, and had a baby with you-"_

_Aiolos jerked at the mention of a baby "Athena!" He cried out, panicking when he realized that he didn't know where his Goddess was. "Where is she?" He demanded._

_"Athena? That's her name?" The man-Kido-said thoughtfully. "Interesting. Don't panic. The baby is safe. She's just down the hall being taken care of by a nanny right now."  
_

_"I have to see her. I have to know she's safe." Aiolos insisted._

_"And I told you to be calm. I'll go get her now, as long as you agree to rest once you've seen her." Kido said calmly._

_Aiolos nodded. "Anything. Just bring Athena to me."_

_The man nodded and stepped back and out of the room._

_Aiolos turned his head towards the door, waiting for the moment he would be sure his Goddess was safe, but as he waited he found he couldn't keep his eyes open. Slowly, and in spite of his own struggle, Aiolos found himself drifting back to sleep._

* * *

"So you crashed in the Himalayas and were found by the Old Man, and you've spent the past sixteen years living in hiding in Japan." Ikki concluded. "That answers a few of my questions, but I've got more."

Aiolos didn't seem surprised. "I'm sure you do. What do you want to ask first?"

"For starters, what happened to Athena?" Esmeralda asked. Ikki nodded in agreement at the question.

"It isn't obvious?" Aiolos asked.

"Not really." Seiya said.

Aiolos sighed. "I told Mitsumasa Kido everything. We decided that the best way to keep Athena safe was to hide her in plain sight. Saga, and anyone else who knows the truth, would naturally expect me to try to be subtle in hiding Athena, so while they're looking in every little hidden corner of the world, Athena would be hiding in the one place no one would ever expect her to be."

"Ah." Esmeralda said. "You renamed her, didn't you?"

"That's right. Athena and I were both renamed, and Kido agreed to help take care of Athena."

"Which begs the question," Hyoga started, looking like he already knew the answer to his own question. "You're new name was Axios. What was Athena's?"

Aiolos smiled slowly. "Saori. Saori Kido."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there is chapter three. This chapter was a huge struggle, but I managed to get it out.
> 
> Please feel free to leave a comment. I especially love constructive criticism.


	5. Reflections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Saints reflect on everything they've learned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's chapter four. I don't have much to say here. Enjoy.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

Saori sat in the computer chair in the Graude Foundation Research Center, lost in thought.

_"You're saying that I'm Athena?"_

_"I am."_

_"But that can't be. What proof do you have?"  
_

_"None. You just have to trust me."_

How could she be Athena? She was just Saori Kido, granddaughter of Mitsumasa Kido.

But then, was she really? Her Grandfather had never said a word about her parents or what had happened to them. Did she even have parents?

Silently, Saori leaned forward and typed out _Mitsumasa Kido_ into the computer.

Everything that came up was about her Grandfather's business and his many accomplishments. As she expected, there was an entry on his parents and two younger brothers and their families. There were news reports on several of the more notable woman her Grandfather had dated in his younger years, and plenty of tabloid articles about supposed scandals, but nothing else.

Saori sat back. Nothing on any marriages, no children. Nothing. In fact, the only record she could find that suggested one Mitsumasa Kido had ever had a family was the article written when he had adopted her .

Saori stared at the article. The included photo showed her Grandfather, holding an infant Saori in his arms. Tatsumi stood to Mitsumasa's right, just as he did in every photo. What made Saori curious was the boy to her Grandfather's left. There was no doubt in her mind that it was a younger Aiolos, but why was he there?

Saori scanned the article, ignoring all the typical blather about her Grandfather's accomplishments and how great a man he was. It was typical for every article including the man.

Then she found it.

_Additionally, Mister Kido has taken guardianship of Axios, who Mister Kido claims he found in Greece. Axios, a thirteen-year-old boy of Greek descent, was found by Mister Kido and his assistant, Tokumaru Tatsumi, after a his house in Athens collapsed, killing his parents and severely injuring young Axios._

The visible part of the boy's face was eerily blank. The right side was partially bandaged. He was sitting in a wheelchair, his right leg in a cast and his right arm in a sling across his chest.

 _A cover story._ Saori thought as she stared at the younger Aiolos. She sat back and closed her eyes briefly, then sat up and opened them again. Reaching out, she typed out a new search.

_Athena._

* * *

Esmeralda sat under a tree in the Kido mansion gardens, watching Ikki as the Phoenix Saint darted around the open space of grass, fighting a series of imaginary opponents.

_"But if Saori is Athena, then why were those Saints attacking her?"_

_"Because if it got out that Athena was no longer in Sanctuary, chaos would ensue. Saga was a brilliant liar. He most likely has the whole of Sanctuary convinced that Athena is in Sanctuary."_

_"That doesn't explain why Saori was targeted." Shiryu pointed out._

_"Saori was targeted because Saga never stopped searching for her. Now that he's found her, he'll do anything to make sure that she never has the chance to come to Sanctuary and reclaim her place as Athena. I can only assume that there will be more attacks."_

Esmeralda shook her head. Everything was moving so fast. Just two weeks ago she had left Death Queen Island for the first time as the newly named Columba Saint, and now she was being dragged in to this.

To be fair, Esmeralda was sworn to protect Athena as one of her Saints. But this? Esmeralda had spent hours reading the records of past Holy Wars that were kept in the hidden library on Death Queen Island, and she had never read any accounts of a Saint turning on Athena when the goddess was only a baby.

The Columba Saint was drawn out of her thoughts when she heard a scream of pure frustration. Looking up, Esmeralda saw that Ikki had put his fist through the trunk of a nearby tree. His arm and hand were bleeding and covered in splinters.

Sighing, Esmeralda stood up and moved to help Ikki. She could ask him his thoughts on these matters while she healed his hand.

* * *

Seiya flopped back on his bed. Today had been crazy. First he heard Axios's voice in his head telling him to go to the bridge over the river to help Miss Saori, then Miss Saori was attacked by a bunch of random Saints who tried to kill her, then they all found out that Axios was actually the Sagittarius Saint Aiolos and that Miss Saori was supposedly the goddess Athena.

_"If there are going to be more attacks, then we just have to keep protecting Miss Saori, right?"_

_"I doubt it's that easy." Ikki scoffed._

_"It isn't." Axios-Aiolos-said. "The more Saints fail to kill Saori, the stronger the Saints Saga sends will be. He may even send a Gold Saint."_

Seiya frowned at the ceiling of his room. This was all really confusing. Axios was a Gold Saint. Miss Saori was Athena. Sanctuary was trying to kill Athena.

Seiya didn't doubt that with five Bronzes, all of whom seemed to be pretty powerful, they would be able to protect Miss Saori, but sooner or later they would have to find a way to end the attacks. That would probably mean confronting Sanctuary head on, and Seiya wasn't sure they would be able to do that with just five Saints.

 _No matter._ Seiya thought to himself. _We'll just have to make do with what we've got._

* * *

Hyoga stood on the balcony of his room, glaring out over the Kido estate.

_"The Gold Saints are the strongest of all of Athena's Saints. Far more powerful than the Silver and Bronze Saints." Hyoga pointed out._

_"How do you know that?" Seiya asked._

_"My master was trained by a Gold Saint. He told me a lot about them."_

There was no doubt in Hyoga's mind that, for all they had managed to defend Saori against the attack earlier that day, they wouldn't last against continued attacks.

 _Sooner or later we'll have to confront Sanctuary head on. And we can't do that with only five Bronze Saints when there will be so many Silvers and Bronzes against us, not to mention the Gold Saints._ Hyoga thought.

They would need backup of some sort. More Saints on their side.

Judging by what Hyoga himself knew, Saori needed to awaken as Athena, and hadn't done so yet. Unfortunately, that was exactly what needed to happen for them to gain more allies. They needed to convince any Saints that attacked them that Saori was Athena.

For now, they would just have to hope that there weren't too many attacks.

* * *

Shiryu sat calmly on the roof of the Kido mansion, his legs crossed and hands folded in his lap. Meditation had always calmed his nerves and helped him to think more clearly.

_"It doesn't matter for now. The best thing we can do is be prepared." Aiolos said._

_"And how can we be more prepared than we already are?" Seiya asked._

_"We can train. I'm going to help you all refine you skills further."_

Absently, Shiryu wondered about Aiolos. Now that he was better attuned to Cosmo, he could sense the man's Cosmo. While it in no way rivaled that of his master, Dohko, Shiryu could tell it was certainly large enough to be that of a Gold Saint.

But that didn't make the man any less of a mystery. Shiryu couldn't help but wonder what had possessed the Sagittarius Saint to trust Mitsumasa Kido, why he had decided to hide Saori in plain sight, knowing that someone in Sanctuary would eventually figure out what was going on.

And now they were to be trained by the Sagittarius Saint. Not that Shiryu doubted that it was a good idea, he knew that there was always room for improvement as a Saint, but would this training be enough to keep Miss Saori safe? There was no good way to tell.

Shiryu wished he could talk to Master Dohko. His old teacher would undoubtedly have some kind of useful insight into the situation.

* * *

Ikki snarled as he landed an uppercut on an invisible opponent's chin.

_"Before you start training us, I have one more question for you."_

_"And what would that be?"_

_"What happened to Shun?"_

_"I don't know."_

Twisting around, Ikki swung a kick at another invisible enemy.

It was frustrating. Shun was Ikki's little brother, the single most important thing in his life.

If it wasn't for Esmeralda, Ikki would have already left to look for his brother. Not that he doubted that the Columba Saint would follow him, but he didn't want to drag her all over the world like that.

It didn't matter anyway.

With a scream of frustration, Ikki threw himself forward and sank his fist straight through the trunk of a nearby tree. Bits of wood went flying everywhere, and Ikki felt a burst of pain as splinters embedded themselves into his fist. Behind him, he heard Esmeralda sigh and get up from where she had been watching him.

* * *

Aiolos leaned back on his hands. He was sitting in the middle of the ring at the Graude Colosseum, staring up at the night sky.

Closing his eyes, Aiolos reached out with his Cosmo, carefully sensing the Cosmo of the many other Saints through the stars.

Shun had always been an enigma to Aiolos. From the beginning, the little boy had reminded Aiolos of someone else, someone he felt he had met a long time ago, though he knew for a fact that he had never met the child before that day in the Kido Orphanage.

Aiolos remembered the strange sense of wrongness he had felt when Shun wasn't chosen to go to any of the training grounds, as if a piece of a puzzle was being forced into the wrong place. That night he had looked up at the night sky and wondered.

Then, on the day Shun was to be sent back to the orphanage, Aiolos had awoken to the sense that something was very wrong. Andromeda's Cosmo was screaming. It almost felt like the Cosmo of the Cloth was pleading, begging for something. The screaming Cosmo had left the Sagittarius Saint with a throbbing headache. After that Andromeda had remained silent, even when other constellations reached out to her to ask what was wrong.

Three days later, when Aiolos could stand up without feeling dizzy, he had gone to the orphanage to check on Shun. But the little boy hadn't been there, and according to the director he had never arrived. Aiolos had returned back to the Kido Manor and asked Tatsumi to find the driver who had been responsible for taking Shun to the orphanage, only to find out that the man had quit as soon as he had returned from taking Shun back to the orphanage. No one had been able to find him, even with the extensive network maintained by the Graude Foundation.

Not that they could tell Ikki that.

Aiolos was drawn from his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching him. Looking up, he saw Saori headed in his direction.

"Hello Axios. Or should I call you by your real name?" Saori asked with remarkably good nature.

Aiolos smiled. "Much as I miss my real name, you should call me by my new one for now. Now what can I do for you?"

Saori's smile disappeared. "I want you to tell me about Athena."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that happened. What do you think?
> 
> It's gonna be a few more chapters before things start to pick up, just so you know. I'm kinda struggling with how to get where I want to be.
> 
> Anyway, please comment. (Comments make for good motivation for me).
> 
> See you next chapter!


	6. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiolos trains the young Saints.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Chapter five. Let's do this.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

Aiolos watched as Ikki snarled and threw himself at Esmeralda, attempting to get past the Columba Saint's guard and hit her in the stomach. Esmeralda jumped back and then backflipped, neatly gaining herself some distance. She came in low for her next hit, successfully getting under Ikki's guard and sweeping his feet out from under him. Quickly, Esmeralda dropped down, grabbed Ikki's arm and, with noticeably little struggle, pulled her opponent into an armlock.

"That's enough." Aiolos called. Esmeralda let Ikki go, rolling to her feet to face him.

"Esmeralda, that was good. You managed to avoid your opponent's attacks and disable them without using any fatal moves." Esmeralda smiled. "You need to improve your speed though. You're too reliant on your flexibility." Esmeralda pursed her lips, clearly thinking on what she could do to improve her speed.

Aiolos turned his attention to Ikki. "Focus, Ikki. It's like your mind is on Mars with how little attention you've been paying to your fights. Esmeralda should not have gotten under your guard that easily. That kind of inattention is going to get you and the others all killed." Ikki flinched visibly at that.

"I know that." He snapped, glaring.

"Then show me." Aiolos retorted. "Again. This time I want Esmeralda purely on the defensive. Ikki, move as fast as you can, keep Esmeralda on her toes. And _focus._ "

The two Saints nodded and turned back to each other. Ikki didn't wait for any kind of signal before he shot forward and attacked Esmeralda with a vengeance.

Aiolos turned his attention to the other three young Saints he was instructing.

"Seiya!" He called as the Pegasus Saint grew increasingly frustrated in his failed attempts to hit Shiryu. "Calm down. Anger is a weapon only to your opponent. Don't lose your focus just because you can't hit Shiryu."

"Yes sir." Seiya responded to the Gold Saint without turning his gaze from Shiryu.

"Shiryu, you need to attack at some point. You have no chance to win this fight if you do nothing but dodge." Aiolos added.

Shiryu nodded, and started making a more concerted effort to hit Seiya.

Hyoga stood apart from the other four young Saints, his hands clasped around a rock Aiolos had found, glowing slightly with the white light of the Cygnus Saint's Cosmo. Nothing was happening.

Aiolos watched as the Cygnus Saint's brow furrowed in concentration, the glow intensifying.

"You need to relax." Aiolos spoke up softly. "The more you try to force this, the harder it will be. Take the path of least resistance."

Hyoga was clearly listening, as his face relaxed and his hands loosened around the rock. Frost started to gather on the surface of the rock, but a moment later Hyoga growled, his face scrunching up as he dropped his arms to his sides, the rock gripped loosely in his left hand.

"Why is it that you seem to think you know more about ice-based techniques than I do, when you're not even a Saint who uses ice?" He demanded in a frustrated tone of voice.

Aiolos sighed. "I am one the oldest Gold Saints. It was my responsibility to help the younger Gold trainees with their training. That meant knowing as much as I could about their techniques. I helped Camus train at times too."

Hyoga jerked at that, as though surprised that Aiolos knew who his master's master had been. The Sagittarius Saint smiled sadly. "He was still in training when I left Sanctuary, but I'm not surprised he ended up taking on a student of his own eventually."

"Just. Hold. Still already!" A frustrated yell drew the attention of all the training Saints and their instructor. Ikki was chasing after Esmeralda, attempting to hit her and completely failing as the Columba Saint continued to dodge.

Aiolos shook his head. This wasn't working anymore. "Ikki stop! That's enough for today." He called. Fortunately, the Phoenix Saint heard him and slowed to a stop. Esmeralda stopped too, breathing heavily.

They headed inside to one of the many sitting rooms in the Kido Manor, everyone except Ikki taking a seat. Aiolos lowered himself slowly into the armchair while Seiya and Shiryu took up the loveseat. Hyoga and Esmeralda each took up one end up the large couch, and Ikki propped himself against the back of the couch behind Esmeralda.

Souta stepped into the room, carrying a tray with cool water and tea, along with some sandwiches. He set the tray down on the table, but left it up to the Saints to serve themselves, and promptly left the room.

Aiolos waited until everyone had taken drinks or sandwiches before he spoke.

"What is wrong with all of you?" He snapped, glancing around at the five young Saints. "None of you have been focusing properly today."

The five teens glanced around, sharing looks with each other as though they were trying to decide who was going to speak for them. Finally, Hyoga spoke up.

"We're worried. You won't tell us what happened to Shun. All you've said is that he didn't go back to the orphanage. You won't tell us what happened." He explained.

Aiolos sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "I thought that might be the case. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what happened. I know Shun never made it to the orphanage, but the driver who was supposed to take him there quit the same day."

"Did you ever find him?" Hyoga asked.

"No. I didn't even know where to start looking." Aiolos said.

"You didn't, but I did." Saori's voice interrupted anything anyone else could say.

"What do you mean?" Aiolos demanded.

"I knew where to start looking." Saori said. "After you told me about Shun last night I did some research. Tatsumi and I were able to track the driver from that day after he quit. He is currently living in America. I simply arranged for someone to go speak to him."

"And?" Ikki prompted impatiently.

"He was paid off." Saori told them grimly. "By a man wearing golden armor with masks on either side of the helmet."

"Saga." Aiolos hissed sharply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you all think? This chapter was a pretty major struggle for me. Filler chapters always are, but I think things will start to pick up since I'm reaching a part I've had planned for a while.
> 
> Please leave a comment!


	7. Resting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day of rest ends in disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. Here's chapter six. It's the only filler other than last chapter before things pick up again (I hope). Hope you like it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

Hyoga leaned back into the arm of the couch he was sitting on. It had been a full two weeks since the battle on the bridge. Two weeks since he and the other Bronze Saints had learned the truth about Saori and Axios. In that time there had been no attacks, and no sign of any Silver or Gold Saints. Nothing.

Aiolos had given the younger Saints a day off of training to relax and recover from the many bruises and scrapes they had picked up over the week since their last day off. Somehow all five Saints had congregated in the same sitting room where they had talked about Shun the previous week.

The five of them weren't really doing much. Shiryu was meditating, while Seiya and Esmeralda carried the majority of the conversation. Ikki and Hyoga himself were allowed to sit and do nothing.

That is, until...

"So, how did you two earn your Clothes?" Seiya asked.

The smile on Esmeralda's face dimmed, and she turned to glance at Ikki, sharing a grim look with him. Finally, Ikki shrugged, grunting vaguely. Esmeralda pursed her lips.

"I can tell you, but it's not a pretty story."

"We are Saints. I think we can handle an ugly story." Shiryu piped up, cracking one eye open from where he was sitting in the armchair. Apparently he hadn't been as checked out as Hyoga had thought.

Esmeralda nodded. "If you're sure."

Seiya nodded with his typical enthusiasm.

"Okay." Esmeralda said. "I guess I should preface by saying that I don't have any formal Saint training. Everything I know I learned from the hidden library I found on Death Queen Island."

* * *

**_Flashback_ **

_"I was born on Death Queen Island. My father was the Master of the training ground, my mother was a slave. I was too, technically. A slave to my own father. I found the hidden library while getting hot rocks from the volcano to heat the Master's bath for the night. The library holds knowledge on each of the three Cloths found on Death Queen Island, as well as the lore behind them._ _There was a multitude of books on the manipulation of Cosmo and the requirements for each Cloth._

_"I spent hours in that library when I wasn't doing chores. I taught myself to access my Cosmo, then how to heal. It was my escape."_

"You learned how to access your Cosmo without the help of a trainer?"

"I didn't have a choice."

"Huh. So how does Ikki fit into this?"

"We met when I came to the island when I was eight. Esmeralda was the only person on that damned island who I could trust."

"Oh."

"Yeah. _Oh._ "

_"Ikki."_

"Mrh."

"You were saying?"

_"Right. I'm the one who taught Ikki to access his Cosmo, not the Master. We trained together with the goal of each earning a Cloth, although we had to keep it a secret. If the Master had found out he would have killed us both. Everything was fine until the day of Ikki's last test."_

_"This is your last chance Ikki. Your last chance to earn the Phoenix Cloth." Guilty spoke menacingly._

_Esmeralda closed her eyes to hide her eyeroll. Her father really did have a flair for the dramatic. He could have just started the battle._

_The Master and Ikki stood in the middle of a sparring ring, several more trainees, each wearing masks similar to Guilty's, stood off to the left surrounding the Phoenix Cloth Box. Esmeralda stood on the opposite side of the ring, ordered by her father to watch the match. She clasped her hands in front of her, studiously playing the part of the worried little girl._

_"Go ahead then." Guilty said. "You know you can't get that Cloth as long as I'm still alive."_

_Ikki snarled and threw himself forward to attack._

_As the fight continued, and Guilty continued to beat Ikki into the ground, Esmeralda found it harder and harder to tell herself that everything would be okay. Ikki was losing._

_Guilty laughed as Ikki grew increasingly frustrated. "That's right!" He cried. "Hate! Hate your parents for leaving you! Your brother for abandoning you! And hate me, for beating you day and night for the last ten years!"_

_"Hate... my brother?" Ikki whispered. Esmeralda bit her lip. Shun was the single most important thing in Ikki's life, the thing that had driven him to stay sane for the past ten years. "I will never hate my brother!" He yelled. A red-orange glow began to build around him as his Cosmo burned. Ikki charged forward, fist drawn back and burning bright with the light of his Cosmo._

_Esmeralda had keep herself from leaning forward in anticipation. This was it. Ikki was going to win._

_However, just as his attack was about to make contact with Guilty's motionless form, Ikki slowed, his fist stopping mere inches from his Master's chest._

_"You fool!" Guilty hissed. "Why didn't you finish me?"_

_Ikki didn't answer, just shook his head helplessly._

_"You failed." Guilty snarled as he began to draw his arm back._ _"You will never be the Phoenix. But I have one more lesson for you Ikki."_

_"NO!" Esmeralda screamed, throwing herself forward just in time to push Ikki out of the way of Guilty's Cosmo-charged attack. Heat scorched across her back as the attack burned a piece of her dress off. Esmeralda shrieked in pain._

_"Foolish girl." Guilty sneered. "If you're so eager to die, I'll kill you too."_

_Next to Esmeralda, Ikki started to stand up. "You monster." He hissed in rage._ _Behind Ikki, the volcano exploded. Everyone else watched in a mixture of curiosity and horror as armor settled over the blue-haired boy. Blue, silver and orange armor with long tails extending from the shoulder that resembled the tailfeathers of the legendary bird itself._ _"You're not laying a hand on her."_

_"Then you'll have to kill me." Guilty told the boy._

_Looking up, Esmeralda got a look at Ikki's profile, and the expression of pure rage on his face._

_"So be it." Ikki spat._

No. _Esmeralda thought. Ikki had finally given in to anger._

_Ikki threw himself forward with a roar of anger. Guilty didn't move, simply drawing his fist back again. Esmeralda watched in abject horror as the two attacks collided._

_Everything was silent. There was a ringing in Esmeralda's ears as she watched the two men stand there. She watched as everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Ikki jerked, coughing harshly. Slowly, ever so slowly, Guilty toppled over backwards, a gaping hole visible in his chest. Ikki dropped to his knees._

_Before she realized what she was doing, Esmeralda was on her feet and rushing to Ikki's side. She knelt down next him, reaching out. "Ikki?" She asked._

_Ikki turned his head towards her slightly, then toppled forward._

_"IKKI!" Esmeralda cried, catching her friend and heaving him onto his back. She froze. There was a bleeding wound on Ikki's stomach, half-scorched by the sheer heat of her father's Cosmo._

_"Ikki, hold on." Esmeralda said desperately. "I can heal this." She ignored the many pairs of eyes digging into the back of her skull._

_"Don't... push yourself..." Ikki wheezed, staring up at Esmeralda through cloudy eyes. "You've never... healed anything this... serious."_

_Esmeralda flinched. Ikki was right, she had never healed anything worse than a bruise before. She had never been able to._

_"I don't care what I've done before. I'm going to save you." Esmeralda insisted, tears of frustration building in her eyes._

I hear you. _Esmeralda froze as the voice echoed in her ears, though her attempt to heal Ikki did not stop._ I hear your plea and I will help you.

_Esmeralda frowned. There was something strange about the voice in her head. It was warm and soft and just hearing it seemed to sooth her worries. "Are you... the Columba Cloth?" She asked._

I am. And you... will be my Saint.

* * *

"That's quite the story." Shiryu commented.

"Dramatic." Hyoga grunted dryly.

Esmeralda's mouth quirked up into a half smile. "It really is."

Before anyone else could say anything, the door to the sitting room opened to reveal Saori, Tatsumi, and Aiolos all standing just outside the door, grim expressions on their faces. Instantly the five young Bronzes were on alert.

"What's wrong?" Hyoga asked.

"Something just crashed into the Graude Colosseum." Saori answered.

"You're all coming with us to find out what is going on." Tatsumi added.

The five teens shared glances with each other. This couldn't be good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that sure got away from me. I did not mean for that flashback to nearly so long.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Remember, constructive criticism is always welcome.
> 
> See you all next chapter.


	8. The Next Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanctuary sends more Saints to attack Athena, and Aiolos sees a familiar face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Things are finally going to pick up this chapter and I'm super excited for it. A huge thank you to Jenny DeVic for helping me out with this chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

_"I can't see anything! They're moving too fast!"_ A voice cried through the radio that was gripped in Tatsumi's white-knuckled hand.

The five young Saints, Tatsumi, Saori, Aiolos and a Kido guard were all situated in the small control room located underneath the Kido Mansion. Saori sat in the chair in front of a set of computer monitors, Tatsumi by her side and the others all arranged around behind her, with the guard standing by the double doors.

In the past few minutes there had been nothing but incoherent yelling from Tatsumi's radio, and it was making everyone tense.

"What is going on in there?" Aiolos demanded.

"I can't tell," Saori answered, typing away at the keyboard as she tried to access the cameras situated around the Colosseum. "They've done something the block the security cameras, or maybe just destroyed them. Tatsumi, try the radio again." She ordered.

"Yes M'Lady. Colosseum guards, report. What's going on down there?" Tatsumi snapped into the radio.

There was a crackling of static from the radio, and then. _"It's a Saint, sir. There's a Saint in the Colosseum!"_

Everyone froze at that, but no one spoke as the guard continued. _"It's a woman, she has green hair and wears a mask over her face."_

 _Green hair and a mask?_ Seiya thought. _It couldn't be... Did they send Shaina?_

"This must be the next attack you told us to expect." Shiryu said to Aiolos. The older Saint nodded, his face set in a grim mask.

"You're right Shiryu. I suspect that as well and so we must face it head-on. Ikki and Esmeralda will go to the Colosseum to confront the Saint attacking there."

"What about the rest of us?" Hyoga asked.

"The rest of us will stay here to protect Athena." The Sagittarius Saint answered firmly.

Seiya frowned. "Isn't four Saints overkill? We should be pretty safe down here, and the attacker is at the Colosseum. That's miles away."

"Protecting Athena is the priority of the Saints. There is no such thing as overkill when it comes to that." Aiolos answered seriously as Ikki and Esmeralda disappeared out the door.

"Oh. Okay." Seiya mumbled.

Silence reigned for several long minutes until Shiryu spoke up again.

"Aiolos, is it possible that this was a trap?" Everyone turned to the Dragon Saint.

"What do you mean, a trap?" Tatsumi demanded.

"I believe Shiryu is concerned that this may be an attempt by Sanctuary to lure you all away and leave me vulnerable." Saori guessed. She glanced at Shiryu, who nodded in confirmation.

"It's certainly a possibility." Aiolos admitted. "There's a reason I only sent two of you to the Colosseum."

"Athena's safety before all else." Hyoga added.

Abruptly, there was sound from Tatsumi's radio again. _"Tatsumi, sir, this is Kenta at the front of the Kido mansion. Something just got past us!"_

"Something got past you?" Tatsumi snapped into the radio. "What sort of something?"

 _"I don't know. They knocked out all the other guards and went straight through the front door. You need to be on guard. Whatever it is, I think it's headed for_ _you."_

"Well, that's just great." Hyoga grunted even as the sound of something being thrown into a wall echoed down the hall.

"All of you, be ready." Aiolos said, stepping in front of Saori's chair.

There were several more loud thumps. Whatever-or whoever-had made it past the guards was making no effort to be quiet.

The door exploded inwards.

The guard in front of the door yelled as he was thrown to the ground. Tatsumi jerked back in surprise, reaching up to shield his face from the shrapnel of the door. The young Bronze Saints were able to hold firm, peering through the dust obscuring the doorway to see what was beyond it.

Seiya saw the figure first. "Oh no you don't!" The Pegasus Saint yelled, throwing himself forward to intercept the person. He threw a punch, only for the strike to be brushed aside and a vicious spinning kick to send him crashing into a wall.

"Dammit." Hyoga swore as he and Shiryu went to attack the strange figure. They weren't fast enough, however. The figure shot straight past them and towards Saori and Aiolos.

* * *

Aiolos braced himself as the figure reached him, throwing what he knew would be a powerful punch.

Forcing his body to move at a speed he hadn't reached in years, Aiolos caught the punch even as he drew his free hand back for a strike of his own.

The force of catching the punch sent a bolt of pain up Aiolos's arm, and a shockwave of pure force shooting out from the point of impact, cracking the walls and throwing everyone who was still stand to the floor. Saori yelped as she was thrown back in her chair.

The dust cleared.

Aiolos froze, all thoughts of counterattacking fleeing his mind as he stared into a pair of piercing green eyes.

"Talus?" He choked quietly.

* * *

Ikki glanced up as he landed in front of the entrance to the Graude Colosseum. Above him Esmeralda made a pass over the Colosseum before circling back and landing next to him.

"There are guards everywhere. Looks like most of them are unconscious." She reported. "I didn't see any Saints though."

Ikki turned and hesitated, staring at the door. A bad feeling curled in his gut, leaving him strangely reluctant to enter the building.

Esmeralda rested a hand on his shoulder. "Let's head straight for the arena." She suggested. "We should start by making sure the guards are alright."

Ikki reached up and pressed a hand over Esmeralda's, squeezing it gently. "Let's go."

They stepped through the entrance and headed down the hallway that lead towards the main arena. They moved quickly and reached the ground-level entrance to the arena in no time. Ikki froze at the sight that greeted them.

Guards were scattered across the ground, some unconscious, while others were conscious but unable to move easily. A few of them were crouched over their comrades, checking them over or attempting to wake them up.

After a moment's hesitation, Ikki headed towards the closest of the guards, half-hidden from the rest of the arena by a chunk of rubble. They looked up as he approached, tensing at the sight of the armor-clad Saint. Ikki raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture and knelt down next to the three guards, looking them over.

They were the standard, nondescript men in black suits that acted as security guards for the Graude Foundation. Two of them, one blonde and one brunet, both looking somewhat worse for wear, were kneeling beside the third guard who lay on the ground with his right leg stretched out at a slightly awkward angle. Broken.

"What happened here?" Ikki demanded of the two less-injured guards. Esmeralda crouched down by the head of the one with the broken leg and bent down to speak with him.

"That's complicated." The blonde guard answered.

"Then _uncomplicate_ it." Ikki snapped.

The guard swallowed. "We were just walking our regular route when something fell in the middle of the arena. We went to investigate. Before we could see what it was, we were attacked and knocked out."

"You didn't see anything?" Esmeralda asked from where she was now examining the prone guard's leg.

"I saw something." The second guard said. "It was a person in armor, kind of like yours."

"We were getting reports over the radio." Ikki said. "Someone said it was a woman with green hair and a mask. Can you confirm that?"

"They were wearing a mask, but it was fabric and only covered the bottom half of their face. I'm not sure if it was a woman or not." The guard said.

Ikki frowned, if it was fabric and didn't cover the person's entire face then it wasn't an Amazon. But that didn't narrow down who it was.

A scream interrupted Ikki's thought process, drawing his attention away from the guards.

"Stay here." He told Esmeralda, then headed in the direction of the scream, around the rubble and towards the center of the arena.

There were more guards were scattered across the ground. In the center of the arena, on a platform that Ikki identified as a Sanctuary-style sparring ring, was a single conscious guard. Suddenly, figure clad in armor headed straight for him.

Ikki moved without thinking as the figure made to lunge forward. He jumped and grabbed the guard, yanking him out of the way. As he came to stop with the guard's shoulder gripped in his hand, he glanced back.

There, standing at the edge of the ring, body half-turned towards Ikki and the guard, was a Saint clad in green and silver armor. Green hair cascaded over small shoulders, and a fabric mask, seemingly part of the Cloth's bodysuit, covered the Saint's mouth and nose. But what really struck Ikki was the Saint's eyes. Bright, greenish-blue, and full of some emotion that Ikki couldn't identify.

The Saint turned fully towards Ikki and the guards, and their eyes widened as they settled on the Phoenix Saint.

"Brother?" The Saint's voice was soft and raspy, but underneath that, it was painfully familiar.

 _No..._ "Shun?" Ikki asked, horror curling in his gut.

The boy didn't answer, just blinked slowly. "What are you doing here?" He asked coldly.

"I could ask you the same thing." Ikki retorted. Something dark and ugly curled in his stomach. The past two weeks he had been a mess of worry over the fact that his brother had likely been taken to Sanctuary. The possibility of Shun being dead had crossed his mind more than once. "Where have you been all these years?"

Shun was silent. "That's none of your concern. I am only here on a mission from Sanctuary."

"A mission? What mission?" Ikki demanded. The ugly something in his gut was quickly twisting into the identifiable burn of anger at the situation.

Once again, Shun didn't answer. Instead, the younger Saint tilted his head as though listening to something Ikki couldn't hear. His shoulders tensed.

"You need to leave." Shun said. "All of you. Now."

"Why?" Ikki demanded. "Shun, what's going on?"

"I'm going to destroy this place. You need to get all of Kido's guards out. You have five minutes."

* * *

**Kido Mansion, Several Minutes Earlier**

"Talus?" Aiolos choked as he stared at the man in front of him. The man stared back, his green eyes carrying the same kind of wide-eyed shock Aiolos himself was feeling.

"Aiolos?" The Saint's voice was deeper than Aiolos remembered it, different from the not-quite-high-pitched chirp of Aiolos's memories. "You're alive?"

Slowly, Talus pulled his fist out of Aiolos's slack grip, then jumped back. His arms fell to his sides limply. Then, abruptly, he slumped back against the wall behind him.

"Talus, is that really you?" Aiolos felt like an idiot asking such an obvious question, but it was the only thing that came to his mind.

"Yeah, it's me." The man confirmed softly. "Goddess, you're _alive_. I always knew you couldn't be killed so easily." He breathed, his gaze fixated on the Sagittarius Saint.

Strangely, Aiolos couldn't detect any threat from the Saint in front of him. He let his arms drop to his sides, cautiously lowering his stance.

"If you're here, alive, then that means..." Talus said slowly, his gaze shifting to where Saori was slowly straightening up in her chair behind her savior. The Sagittarius Saint tensed again, ready to defend his goddess. "Athena." Talus finally breathed, and dropped to one knee in front of the young heiress.

* * *

Saori stared in confusion. "What's going on?" She asked, glancing at Aiolos for an explanation.

"My apologies, my goddess." Talus spoke up before Aiolos could say anything. "I believe there has been a terrible mistake."

"A mistake?" Saori asked.

"Yes." Talus said, he seemed to hesitate before lifting his head to gaze at her. "Forgive me, allow me to introduce myself. I am Silver Fox Talus, a Saint of Athena. I was sent here by the Pope of Sanctuary to eliminate the false Athena."

Saori frowned as she remembered her conversation from two weeks ago. "You were sent to kill me." She said nervously.

"That is correct."

Saori took a step forward, ignoring, Aiolos's arm as it came up to bar her from getting to close to the Fox Saint.

"If you were sent to kill me, then why do you kneel now? And what is this mistake you mentioned?" She inquired.

"I kneel as a Saint of Athena, out of respect to my goddess." Talus answered, still watching Saori with unreadable eyes. "As for the mistake, I was told that I was being sent to kill a rebellious woman who had been falsely claiming herself to be the goddess Athena. I was fully prepared to carry out my mission in order to keep the peace within Sanctuary, but now I see that my orders were wrong. If Aiolos is here, then there is no doubt that you are the true Athena."

"How does my presence clear Saori's name?" Aiolos asked. "As far as Sanctuary is concerned, I am a traitor who tried to kill Athena."

Talus's eyes flicked to Aiolos. "I never believed those lies." He stated simply. "The very idea that you, out of all of us, would betray Athena was inconceivable to me from the start. I have been wondering as to the truth of what happened that night for the past sixteen years."

"You... never believed..." Aiolos whispered.

"No." Talus said. "I may be the only one, and I was forced to keep my opinions to myself. I didn't believe you would try to kill Athena."

"If you don't plan to kill Athena, then how are you going to go back to Sanctuary?" Aiolos asked.

Talus's eyes narrowed. "Going back without succeeding in my mission would be suicidal under the rule of the current Pope. But I won't be going back. Not with Athena here."

"You're willing to turn your back on Sanctuary? Just like that?" Saori asked.

"I am." Talus said patiently.

Aiolos frowned. "They're going to send Saints after you too." He pointed out.

Talus's expression was grim. "I know. I'm prepared for that."

Saori frowned to herself. It was true that Sanctuary would send people after Talus for not killing her, but maybe, just maybe, there was a way to prevent that, at least for a time.

"What is it?" Aiolos asked, seemingly having noticed that Saori was deep in thought.

"It may be true that Sanctuary will send people after Talus for failing to carry out his mission, but perhaps we can delay them." Saori said thoughtfully.

"What did you have in mind, my lady?" Talus asked.

"Destroy the Kido mansion." She said.

Saori could see that her words had shocked everyone by the way they all stared at her, especially Tatsumi.

"Destroy the mansion?" Tatsumi repeated. At her nod, he shook his head vigorously. "My lady, no! You grew up here. What about all of your memories?"

Saori shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Not anymore." She smiled slightly, and reached up to point a finger at her temple. "They're all just objects. All my important memories are right here. Besides, everyone's safety is far more important than some belongings."

Talus looked thoughtful. "It's true that destroying the Kido mansion would draw Sanctuary's attention away from us, at least for a short while." He mused. "But it would be a temporary solution. Sanctuary would find us all eventually."

"It would be enough to give us time to regroup, though." Shiryu pointed out, speaking up for the first time. "I believe Mitsumasa Kido kept several remote locations as vacation homes, perhaps we could go to one of those for the time being?" He glanced at Saori, who nodded in agreement.

"There is a cabin in the mountains not too far from here. We can go there." She suggested.

"That leaves us with one problem." Hyoga said. "There's still that Saint who's attacking the Colosseum. Ikki and Esmeralda are there too."

Saori turned her attention to Talus. "Hyoga is right. Is she with you?"

"She?" Talus looked strangely amused. "Yes. _He_ is with me. I sent Shun to the Colosseum as method to draw some of you away from the mansion." His words drew several gasps from the surrounding Saints.

"That's Shun?" Seiya gasped. "He's a Saint?"

"He is." Talus said.

"And he's following your orders?" Aiolos guessed. "Will he also leave Sanctuary?"

"I have no reason to believe otherwise. I did train him after all." Talus told them, smiling.

Saori nodded. "Do you have a way to contact him?" She asked. When Talus nodded, she pursed her lips. "Pass our plan on to him. Tell him to destroy the Colosseum, but to do it in a way that lets everyone escape. I don't want any casualties."

"As you wish. Just a moment." Talus closed his eyes, and they could all feel the slight burn of his Cosmo. He opened his eyes again. "It's done. Shun will destroy the Colosseum, then find us at the cabin."

"He doesn't know where it is." Saori said, confused.

"He can track my Cosmo." Talus explained. "He will lead your two friends there as well. For now, we've wasted enough time. You should hurry."

Saori nodded in agreement. "We'll take the helicopter. The helipad is on the roof."

"Then I suggest you move quickly." Talus said, standing up from his kneeling position.

Saori nodded to him, then turned to look at Tatsumi.

"Tell everyone in the mansion to leave immediately." She ordered. The butler nodded, changing the settings on his radio and lifting it to his lips.

"Let's go." Shiryu said, and lead the way out of the control room. The others all followed after him, Saori first, with Seiya, Hyoga, and Tatsumi bringing up the rear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a trip. Getting this chapter written was a pretty big struggle for me. A mix of writer's block and suddenly going from 0 to 60 in level of busyness really got in my way. I'm hoping, now that I've got that part of my life kind of sorted out, that I'll be able to get the next chapter out faster.
> 
> See you all next time.


	9. Destruction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ikki reunites with his brother, but it's nothing like he expects. Saori makes a critical decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter of Justice. I was originally going to write this as part of the last chapter, but decided to split it up instead.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

Ikki gritted his teeth as he leapt off the raised sparring ring, taking the guard he had saved from Shun with him.

"What the hell is going on?" The guard demanded.

"What's going on is that we're going to have a building coming down on our heads in less than five minutes and there are at least two dozen guards that we need to get out of here before that. Start telling your friends to get out of here. Have the ones that can walk carry the ones who are unconscious. Don't leave anyone behind."

"But-" The guard started to protest.

"Shut up and do it." Ikki snapped. "We don't have time to waste."

Thankfully, the guard shut his mouth and didn't say anything else, instead darting away to the nearest group of downed guards. Ikki didn't follow, instead racing around the sparring ring and heading for where he had left Esmeralda.

The Columba Saint glanced up as Ikki reached her. The guard whose leg had been broken was being supported between the other two guards, and all three were headed out of the Colosseum.

"What's the situation?" Esmeralda asked.

"The Saint who was attacking the guards is Shun." Ikki told her. Ignoring the look of shock on her face, he continued. "He told me he's got orders to destroy the Colosseum. He gave us five minutes to get everyone out. If you take the side closer to the main entrance, I'll take the back entrance."

Esmeralda pursed her lips, but nodded. "Got it. Be careful." She said.

"You too." He answered.

Esmeralda turned and headed in the direction of the nearest guards. Ikki watched her for a moment before turning in the other direction and heading towards the back entrance.

* * *

The first explosion drew Ikki's attention as he was walking back in from helping an injured guard out of the arena. He had spent the allotted five minutes warning the guards of the Colosseum's impending destruction and making sure the ones who couldn't walk had help.

The Phoenix Saint glanced up as the west wall of the Colosseum exploded. If he squinted a bit, he could just see the form of his younger brother in the dust cloud.

Ikki scowled. This didn't sit right with him. There was no doubt in his mind that the person he had saved that guard from was his brother, but something had seemed wrong. Shun was acting strange, cold even. He had dismissed Ikki with barely so much as a blink.

"Ikki!" Esmeralda's call drew Ikki's attention back to the present.

"Did you get everyone out?" The Columba Saint asked as she approached.

"Almost." Ikki answered. He hesitated. "Esmeralda, can you get the rest of the guards out? I need to find Shun. I need to talk to him."

"Sure." Esmeralda said.

"Thanks." Ikki said, and turned his attention to where he could sense Shun's Cosmo.

It only took a moment to reach the place where Shun was.

"Shun!" Ikki called, attempting to draw his brother's attention. It worked, because Shun stopped where he seemed to be preparing another attack, turning his attention to the Phoenix Saint.

Once again, Ikki was struck by the strange emotion in Shun's eyes.

"What do you want?" Shun demanded as he turned to look at Ikki.

Ikki hesitated. What did he want?

"I want to know why you're okay with this." He finally said. When Shun turned fully towards him, looking curious, he continued. "I know you have orders, but why are you okay with destroying the Colosseum?"

"Because this Colosseum was the creation of Mitsumasa Kido." Shun nearly spat.

"What does old man Kido have to do with this?" Ikki asked, confused.

"Mitsumasa Kido was the reason we went through everything we did as children." The younger Saint said. Without warning, he slammed his fist into the wall next to him, sending cracks spiderwebbing out from the point of impact.

Ikki jerked slightly in surprise at the violent action.

Shun jumped, spinning in mid-air and directing a Cosmo-powered kick at a large column, shattering the with the impact of his foot.

As he landed he spoke again. "Mitsumasa Kido lived a life of luxury while we were forced to train for a purpose designed to get us killed."

Another column was destroyed. "He took in one child and left the rest of us to rot in that gods-forsaken orphanage."

Ikki watched in horror as the little brother he remembered for being so kind lashed out. He could finally recognize the emotion in Shun's once-soft gaze: bitterness.

As Shun moved to destroy another piece of the Colosseum's wall, Ikki saw something that made his blood turn to ice.

"Shun, stop!" He cried, throwing himself forward to intercept the other Saint's punch.

Shun turned his head to stare at Ikki. The two brothers were pressed shoulder to shoulder, Ikki's hand wrapped tightly around Shun's wrist.

"What are you doing?" Shun asked in an irritated tone.

Ikki scowled at his younger brother, and turned his gaze to the guard standing frozen just beneath the part of the arena Shun had been about to destroy.

The older Saint watch as the younger's eyes widened. Slowly, he let go of the boy's wrist and stepped back.

"You almost hit that guard." He said quietly.

"I..." Shun trailed off, glancing away from Ikki.

Ikki glanced back down at the guard in time to see Esmeralda appear and start guiding him away. She glanced up at Ikki and he heard a voice over their Cosmo.

_"This is the last of them. I'll wait for you outside._ _"_

_"Okay."_ He answered.

"You should get out of here if all the guards are safe." Shun said, his voice suddenly devoid of inflection.

"Shun..." Ikki started, but his younger brother turned away, his shoulders hunched.

"Go." He said, and leapt towards the observation booth build into one wall of the Colosseum.

Ikki tilted his head back to stare at the sky. The sun had been setting when he and Esmeralda were sent to the Colosseum, and night had fallen fully now. Closing his eyes, he turned away from Shun and headed towards the edge of the Colosseum wall.

Behind him, the observation booth exploded in a shower of dust and debris.

* * *

Esmeralda was waiting outside the Colosseum just as she'd promised, standing atop one of the tall buildings across the street. She turned her attention from the slowing collapsing Colosseum below them to Ikki as he landed beside her.

"Are you okay?" She asked gently.

Ikki shook his head, a lump in his throat. Esmeralda's gaze softened and she stepped over to rest a comforting hand on Ikki's shoulder.

"I got a Cosmo message from Axios." Esmeralda said, turning back to stare at the Colosseum again.

"Oh?" Ikki managed to choke out.

"Someone attacked the mansion." She explained, at Ikki's alarmed look she smiled reassuringly. "It's okay. It's someone Axios knows from Sanctuary. Apparently they recognized him and are on our side now. Saori told them to destroy the mansion and Colosseum. We're to meet them at a cabin in the mountains."

Ikki huffed a bit. "That would be a great plan if either of us knew where this cabin was located."

"I can find it." A voice said.

Both Saints spun around to find Shun standing behind them.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Esmeralda asked.

Shun blinked. "My master is with Athena and the other Saints. I can track his Cosmo. Follow me." Without another word, Shun turned away and leapt to the next building over.

Ikki and Esmeralda glanced at each other, then followed the younger Saint, disappearing into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two days. What is this? I hope this chapter portrayed how Shun is different from in the original series well enough. Feel free to share your thoughts.
> 
> See you all next time.


	10. Safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Saints rest up and discuss their next step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter! Yay! This chapter is a bridge to what I would consider the Silver Saints Arc of the story. This is the part that originally did not exist, since I intended to follow the plot of Legend of Sanctuary. I think this will be a lot more interesting.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

_"Go to bed. All of you. We'll talk in the morning."_

Aiolos stood on the balcony of the Kido family's mountain villa, deep in thought.

He, along with Saori, Tatsumi, and the young Bronzes had arrived at the mountain villa several hours ago. Ikki, Esmeralda, and Talus's partner had arrived less than an hour ago. Aiolos had declared bedtime for everyone, since it was late and he could tell that everyone was tired.

Aiolos, however, couldn't sleep. He had tried, briefly, only to be up within minutes, his mind too worked up to settle down.

Talus's sudden arrival had brought up thoughts that, Aiolos was rather ashamed to admit, hadn't occurred to him in months.

At first, when he had arrived in Japan with Athena, most of Aiolos thoughts-those that weren't focused on Athena's safety-had fallen towards his brother. What was Aiolia doing? Was he okay? What kind of danger was he in, being the brother of a supposed traitor? As the years had passed, those thoughts had faded slowly, turning from a fierce burn into a dull ache. But Talus's arrival had brought those thoughts and worries to the forefront of Aiolos's mind again.

Talus's partner was another thing keeping Aiolos up. He had turned out to be Shun, Ikki's younger brother. But where the green-haired boy had once been sweet and shy, he was now quiet and almost cold in demeanor. Aiolos couldn't begin to imagine what had happened to make the once cheerful child into such a blank slate.

The sound of the balcony door opening forced Aiolos out of his thoughts, drawing his attention to Talus as the Silver Saint stepped out of the villa and joined him.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Aiolos asked quietly.

"Shouldn't you?" Talus countered. "We can afford a night's sleep before we start worrying about what's going to happen next."

Aiolos pursed his lips. "Much as you have a point, I can't settle down."

"Thinking about your brother?" Talus asked softly.

Aiolos nodded silently. "I don't think I can even begin to imagine what he went through because of me."

"Do you want to hear about him?"

Aiolos nodded.

"I won't lie." Talus said slowly, as though choosing his words carefully. "Aiolia went through a lot because he's your bother. He was accused of being in league with you, of planning to try to finish what you started. A lot of people treat him like dirt even now, after more than a decade."

Aiolos perked up slightly. "What do you mean, 'trying to finish what I started'?" He demanded.

Talus gave Aiolos a blank look. "The Pope told everyone that you tried to kill Athena, and that when that failed, you tried to kidnap her, presumably to take her somewhere else to finish the job. According to what he said, Shura killed you and brought her back. As far as the whole of Sanctuary is concerned, Athena is still there. I always thought it seemed too perfect, but I didn't have any proof until I saw her here with you."

Aiolos felt his shoulders slump. Of course Saga would say something like that. If it got out that Athena wasn't in Sanctuary, there would be chaos. Another thought occurred to him suddenly.

"What does Aiolia think of me?" He asked hesitantly.

The look that spread across Talus's face made Aiolos's heart drop.

"At first, Aiolia was stubborn about it. He tried to hold out hope that you weren't guilty, but the more people blamed him, the more they went after him for what you supposedly did, the more that hope faded. He blames you for everything now. I've heard him say it."

Aiolos tilted his head back to stare at the sky. Above him, the stars glinted brightly. "Do you believe him?" He asked.

Talus was silent for a long moment. "Yes, and no. I think part of him hates you. He went through so much, heard so many people tell him it was your fault that he was suffering, that he eventually started to believe that. But... you're also his older brother. Aiolia respected you so much. I don't think it's an unsalvageable situation."

Aiolos found himself smiling wistfully. "I hope it isn't. But that hope will only take me so far. Sooner or later, we'll have to go to Sanctuary. I don't know what I'll do if Aiolia doesn't believe me."

"You'll find a way to make him believe you." Talus said firmly. "And whatever happens when we confront Sanctuary, I'll be by your side."

"I know you will." Aiolos said, turning to rest a hand on Talus's shoulder. "Now get some sleep. We have a lot to talk about in the morning."

Talus snorted. "Only if you do."

"Deal." Aiolos agreed, as the two Saints turned to head back inside the villa.

* * *

The next morning the entire group gathered in the living room, situating themselves on the three couches or against the walls.

"What do you mean 'Saga is responsible for what happened sixteen years ago'?" Talus demanded sharply, staring at Aiolos.

Ikki watched as Aiolos sighed, relating the same story he had told Ikki and the others several weeks ago.

"You saw his face? You're sure?" Talus asked.

"Completely. It was Saga." Aiolos said steadily.

Talus shook his head in confusion. "You knew Saga better than anyone. What reason could he possibly have for trying to kill Athena?"

"I don't know." Aiolos admitted. "I just know what I saw."

"As interesting as this conversation is, we've been over this already." Saori interrupted in a slightly impatient tone. "We have no idea why this Saga tried to kill me. I think it's time we moved on to more important matters."

"More important matters?" Seiya asked. "Like what?"

"Like what we're going to do next." Shiryu cut in. "We can't hide here forever. Sooner or later, Sanctuary is going to find us. And they'll send more Saints to attack us."

"We need to confront them head-on." Saori said.

"Head-on? Are you crazy?" A voice scoffed. Everyone turned to Shun, who had been standing silently in a corner up to this point.

"Watch your tone around the Miss you brat!" Tatsumi snapped.

"Tatsumi." Saori said sharply. "Let Shun speak. What are your thoughts on this, Shun?"

The young Saint was silent for a long moment. "We can't just rush into this head-first." He said slowly. "Altogether, we have six Bronze Saints and one Silver Saint, plus a single Gold who doesn't even have his Cloth. Those are terrible odds when we're talking about going against Sanctuary."

"Shun isn't wrong." Talus said. "We can't just attack Sanctuary with this small a group."

"We may have a small group, but at least we're not going in blind." Hyoga said. He turned to Talus. "You must have some information that could help us."

Talus pursed his lips. "I'm only a Silver Saint, and I'm not exactly the most trusted Saint in Sanctuary, so there's not much I can tell you."

"What do you know?" Saori asked. "You knew Aiolos well enough to believe he was innocent when no one else did, that has to mean something."

Talus chuckled. "Now that's what I'd expect from Athena. Very observant."

Everyone stared at the Fox Saint. Talus sighed.

"I was a Gold-level trainee before I was assigned to train for the Fox Cloth. I am, to an extent, familiar with all the Gold Saints of Sanctuary."

"You can tell us about the Gold Saints?" Shiryu asked. Talus nodded.

"Tell us everything." Saori instructed.

Talus sighed. "I don't have much on any of the Golds, and a lot of it is just speculation on my part.

"Aries Mu hasn't been seen in Sanctuary almost since Aiolos left, he disappeared without a word and hasn't been seen since. Taurus Aldebaran is pretty reckless, the type to hit first and ask questions later, but if we could prove that Athena is with us, I'm confident he'd be on our side. The Gemini Saint is Saga, and as far as most people know, he sacrificed himself to let Capricorn Shura kill Aiolos. Then there's Cancer Deathmask. He's cruel and twisted. I've been in his House, and its walls are covered with the faces of his victims. He doesn't discriminate-I've even seen the faces of children on his walls. Aiolos's younger brother Aiolia is the Leo Saint. He's as convinced of Aiolos's guilt as the rest of Sanctuary, but I might be able to talk some sense into him. I don't know much about the Virgo Saint Shaka, other than that he's called 'The Man Closest to a God'.

"The House of Libra has been empty for over two hundred years, although its Saint is supposedly still alive. Next is Scorpio Milo. He's more loyal to Aquarius Camus than to Sanctuary, but that won't make him any easier to convince of the truth. Capricorn Shura is probably the biggest problem. He's considered a hero for killing Aiolos and saving Athena, and he's almost fanatically loyal to Athena. He'll be the hardest to convince, I think. Aquarius Camus... I think he might know the truth already, but I don't know for sure. And as for Pisces Aphrodite, he only cares about power. The likelihood that we could convince him to side with us is... small at best."

"So there are a few we might be able to convince to join us, but we can't bet on it." Esmeralda summarized.

"Pretty much. I doubt we'll have much more luck with the Silver or Bronze Saints either." Talus admitted.

"What we need is more information." Aiolos said. "Any ideas?"

"What about our masters?" Shiryu suggested. "Perhaps we could talk to them."

"Yeah!" Seiya cheered. "Marin knows all kinds of stuff. If I go to Sanctuary, maybe she could help."

"Absolutely not!" Talus barked.

"What?" Seiya looked confused. "Why not?"

"Going to Sanctuary is suicidal. You'd be killed on sight." Ikki pointed out. "And there's no point in me and Esmeralda going back to Death Queen Island, there's nothing there."

"That doesn't exclude me and Hyoga though. Our masters are outside of Sanctuary." Shiryu said.

"Shiryu's right." Hyoga agreed. "The Crystal Saint is almost always in Siberia, and I've heard the Old Master of Lushan never leaves there."

"It's not much, but it sounds like our best bet." Aiolos agreed. "Hyoga and Shiryu will go to speak with their masters, the rest of us will stay to protect Saori. Agreed?"

The Sagittarius Saint glanced around, seeing everyone nod.

Abruptly, Shun straightened up and headed for the door.

"Shun." Talus called out to the younger Saint. "What will you do?"

The boy stopped, and turned back. "My loyalty is to Athena, just as you taught me, Master, but I'm not interested in staying here."

"What?" Seiya demanded. "You can't just leave!"

"I can, and I will." Shun said coldly.

"Shun..." Ikki started.

"Don't." His younger brother interrupted. He turned back towards the door. "I'll be there when you need me."

With that, the youngest Saint left, leaving the others in shocked silence.

After a moment, everyone looked to Talus. The man sighed.

"They do say that Canis Minor will always be running."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I admit I'm not as happy with this chapter as I was with the last few. It seems... flat. But I wasn't sure how else to address this. I hope you enjoyed reading it more than I enjoyed reading it.
> 
> See you next time.


	11. Siberia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyoga goes to Siberia to speak with his old master, and receives a rather unexpected welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was like, halfway through writing this chapter when my computer updated and I lost all my work (that's what I get for not saving regularly). That being said, I decided to overhaul the chapter because I didn't like what I had written very much. Anyway, let's do this.

Ikki glared out over the forest from the balcony of the Kido villa. It had been three days since Hyoga and Shiryu had left to speak with their masters, and Ikki was getting restless.

Three days ago, Shun had left them all behind, and Ikki hadn't seen Cloth nor Cosmo of him since. He didn't understand why his little brother had been so eager to leave them, why he wouldn't stay to protect Saori. Not that Ikki felt any particular loyalty to the purple-haired heiress, but it was his duty as a Saint, he understood that.

To make matters worse, Seiya-the idiot-had gone off on his own yesterday, and had been attacked by a Silver Saint. The Saints left behind had felt the bursts of Cosmo in the distance and Ikki and Esmeralda had gone to find out what was going on, only to find Seiya on cliff a few miles out from the villa, sitting next to the body of a dead Silver Saint.

They had yet to get a straight answer out of the Pegasus Saint regarding what had happened. Whatever had happened between the Silver Saint and Seiya, it was weighing on the normally cheerful boy to an almost disturbing degree. Ikki could only hope that Seiya would eventually tell them about it.

* * *

Hyoga let out a breath as he stepped off the truck he had hitched a ride on. His training area in Siberia was fairly remote, which made it difficult to get to at times, but Hyoga had spent nearly ten years living there, and knew people in the nearby towns.

Hyoga stared around the town for a long moment, taking in the people who moved about their daily lives for a moment. He then turned and headed out of the village in the direction of his old training ground.

Hyoga's master, the Crystal Saint, lived in a small cottage a few miles out of town. It was quite a trek for most people, but for Hyoga, who had grown up making that trip as part of his endurance training, it wasn't all that bad. He barely even noticed the cold.

The cottage came into sight after about an hour, and Hyoga felt himself grin slightly at the thought of seeing his master. It had been months since he had completed his training and left Siberia, and he couldn't help but wonder what his master was up to without any students to train.

Hyoga was just about to reach the door when it opened and a man stepped out. Frosty white hair and a familiar blue Cloth, accented by a long white cape, met Hyoga's eyes, and the Cygnus Saint smiled opening his mouth to greet his master.

"Hyoga?" The Crystal Saint looked surprised to see Hyoga, then his eyes narrowed dangerously. "What are you doing here?"

Hyoga froze. That wasn't the warm tone he was used to.

"I came to talk. I need to ask you some questions."

The Crystal Saint glared. "You expect me to answer the questions of a traitor?"

 _Shit._ Hyoga thought.

"I'm not a traitor." Hyoga said as steadily as he could.

"Oh? Then how do you explain the message I received telling me that my prized student had joined forces with a girl falsely claiming herself to be Athena?" The Crystal Saint demanded coldly.

"It's a lie." Hyoga said. "Saori is the true Athena. The Athena in Sanctuary is the fake."

The Crystal Saint took a menacing step forward. "And what would you know of the true Athena? You have never met her. Never felt her Cosmo. You have no way of differentiating a fake from the real Athena."

"I may not be able to tell the difference, but there are people with me who can."

"You mean Talus. I already know he betrayed Sanctuary as well." The Crystal Saint spat. "As I should expect from the student of a traitor himself."

"Student of a traitor? What do you mean?" Hyoga asked.

"Enough talk!" Crystal Saint barked, ignoring Hyoga's question. "You have betrayed Sanctuary and Athena, and the punishment for betrayal is death."

"I said I'm not a traitor!" Hyoga yelled, but his words fell on deaf ears as the Crystal Saint shot forward, fist drawn back to attack. Hyoga threw himself to the side to avoid the attack, already reaching for his Cloth where it rested, dormant, around his neck. The armor fell into place on his body, and Hyoga commanded the helmet and battle mask into place just in time to block his master's next attack.

What followed was a brief but fierce confrontation. Hyoga was slightly surprised to find that he was keeping up with his master far more easily that he once had. Perhaps the measly two weeks of training with Aiolos had made him stronger.

Finally, after several long minutes of fighting, both Saints drew back. Hyoga saw his master's stance shift, and, recognizing the stance, followed suit.

"Diamond Dust!" Both men cried, throwing their attacks at each other with a vengeance.

The two attacks collided in mid air, seemingly equally matched, until there was an explosion of snow.

Hyoga winced, shielding his eyes from the sudden burst of white in his vision, only to jerk backwards as the Crystal Saint exploded out of the snow screen and attempted to punch him again. Hyoga avoided the punch, only to fall victim to a vicious kick that sent him flying into a nearby tree. The breath was knocked from his lungs as he collided painfully with the frozen wood of the tree.

Struggling to push himself up, Hyoga watched as his master approached slowly, staring at him with cold eyes. There was no way he could beat his master as he was now. Unless...

A burst of determination to make his master hear him out had Hyoga on his feet and dropping into a stance he had been learning from Aiolos during their training. He saw the Crystal Saint falter slightly, something like recognition crossing his face, before he continued towards Hyoga.

The Cygnus Saint closed his eyes briefly, remembering what Aiolos's words.

_"Don't focus on the cold in your hands. Focus on the cold around you. Draw strength from it. Use the resources given to you in the natural environment."_

Hyoga opened his eyes. He clenched his hand into a fist, saw his the Crystal Saint brace himself, and punched.

"Diamond Dust!" He yelled.

What followed was a burst of ice colder than any attack Hyoga had thrown before now. He heard his master scream, heard the crunch of snow as the older Saint was thrown onto his back, and, slowly, lowered his fist, moving to approach his downed master.

The Crystal Saint lay on his back in the snow, unconscious, with frost collecting on his Cloth.

Hyoga knelt next to his master, and carefully lifted him up, carrying him towards the cottage. Hopefully, the Crystal Saint would be more willing to listen to Hyoga when he awoke.

* * *

The first thing Dimitri noticed was how cold he was. He was freezing, really, in a way he hadn't been since the first time Master Camus had made him spend the night outside to teach him to handle the cold.

He was also in a bed, covered in blankets. The sound of a fire crackled distantly.

Dimitri opened his eyes to find himself staring at the ceiling of his cottage. He was in his bedroom, covered in more blankets that he had ever used in his life.

Slowly, he sat up and glanced towards the door. It was open, and the sound of someone moving around in the main room reached his ears.

Dimitri tensed, remembering his fight with Hyoga. He wondered vaguely how long it had been since he was knocked out. Speaking of which...

He stood up, moving stiffly, and winced when he realized he was still in his Cloth. Quickly, he dismissed it back to its dormant form, and moved towards the doorway of his room. Hyoga was in the main room of the cottage, standing over a boiling pot at the stove.

Dimitri smiled a bit. Just a few years ago, Hyoga had needed a stool to do that.

Biting back a sigh, he spoke.

"You know, I could take you out with a single blow right now and you'd never stand a chance."

* * *

Shiryu walked steadily along the path towards Lushan and Five Old Peaks.

If he was being honest with himself, a part of him couldn't imagine that Master Dohko would answer his questions. His master hadn't been back to Sanctuary in years, so there was no guarantee that he knew anything about what was going on there, and even if he did, Master Dohko had a habit of talking in circles when Shiryu asked the hard questions, and this would definitely be a hard question.

Shiryu could only hope Master Dohko wasn't in one of his contrary moods when he arrived tomorrow.

* * *

"You know, I could take you out with a single blow right now and you'd never stand a chance."

The voice from behind him startled Hyoga so much he nearly dropped the spoon he'd been using to stir the stew in the pot. He whipped around, only to see the Crystal Saint standing in the doorway to the bedroom, dressed in his blue and white trainer.

Hyoga frowned tensely. "Are you going to?"

His master sighed. "No. I've seen something too interesting for me to kill you now. And you've certainly proved you're not a traitor."

"How's that?" Hyoga asked as he grabbed two bowls and served some of the stew.

"A traitor would have killed me while I was unconscious, or at least left me to freeze, not carried me inside, lit a fire to warm me up, and made my favorite meal."

Hyoga snorted. "Of course they wouldn't. So what was the thing that's too interesting for you to kill me now?"

"That attack you used to take me out."

"What about it?"

"Did you know that that attack is a special move designed by Aquarius Seiryu? The most powerful form of Diamond Dust. Only those training to become the Aquarius Saint are allowed to learn it. Even I don't know it."

Hyoga froze at that. An ice attack his master didn't know. "Aquarius Camus didn't teach it to you?" He asked as he turned towards his master, offering one of the bowls.

"I was never in training to become Aquarius." The Crystal Saint told him, stepping forward to accept the bowl and spoon. "What interests me is how you were able to perform it without any instruction whatsoever."

Wariness made Hyoga pause. Could he really tell his master the truth? The whole truth?

Seeing his hesitation, the Crystal Saint beckoned Hyoga over to the table in the corner. "Tell me how you knew that attack." He prompted once they were sitting.

Hyoga hesitated for only a moment more. "If I tell you, will you believe me?"

"Possibly."

"Fine. I learned it from Sagittarius Aiolos."

Silence.

"That's impossible. Capricorn Shura killed the traitorous Sagittarius Saint sixteen years ago." The Crystal Saint said finally.

"No, he didn't." Hyoga countered. "Aiolos survived, taking the infant Athena with him to Japan. They've been hiding from Sanctuary so that the Pope couldn't find them and kill Athena. Aiolos thinks that the Pope is Gemini Saga, and that he killed the previous Pope for some reason."

He watched as his master's eyes narrowed in thought.

"If you're telling the truth, that certainly explains a lot of things."

"Things like what?" Hyoga asked.

"Things like the sudden change in the Pope's attitude." Slowly, the Crystal Saint looked up at Hyoga. "You said you had questions."

"Yes. I need to know what the current situation in Sanctuary is. Anything you can tell me."

"I haven't been to Sanctuary since just after you left Siberia after you got your Cloth." The Crystal Saint told Hyoga. "But when I was there, I saw horrible things."

"Like?" Hyoga prompted.

"The training regimen for Saint trainees and foot soldiers alike is brutal. A female trainee was strung up outside the House of Aries for refusing to kill a man who saw her without her mask. There were rumors that the Cancer Saint, Deathmask, was ordered to take out dissenters in a village near Rodario, but instead he burned the entire village to the ground." The Crystal Saint told him. Then he sighed. "I know what you're planning, Hyoga."

"And what is that?"

"You're planning to take this girl, this 'true Athena' and take back Sanctuary."

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm planning that." Hyoga said hesitantly.

"But you know it's what needs to be done. If the Pope really is corrupt, then the only way to stop him would be to get the Gold Saints on your side, and you need Athena to do that. But it's dangerous, suicidal even."

"Are you going to try to stop me?" Hyoga asked.

The Crystal Saint seemed to hesitate. "No. I doubt you'll stop just because I ordered you to, but I can't help you either. You know my loyalty is to Master Camus, and the last time I was in Sanctuary, he ordered me not to come back."

"I understand." Hyoga said.

"Good. Now leave. If anyone finds out you were here, you'll put the whole village in danger."

"I know." Hyoga murmured. With that, he stood up, leaving the full bowl of stew on the table, and headed towards the door.

"Goodbye, Master." He said. And stepped out into the snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again. Not too happy with this chapter, but I think it turned out okay. I'm hoping to get to some real action in the next chapter. (Maybe).
> 
> See you next time.


	12. Five Old Peaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiryu arrives at Five Old Peaks to speak with his master, only for an unwanted force to interrupt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Yet another chapter. I'm on a roll.
> 
> If I'm being honest, I wasn't going to write this chapter, but darkacuario, who has been my most devoted reviewer, said they were looking forward to it, which inspired me to write this after all.
> 
> Also, I made some revisions to the last chapter, so I suggest you go back and reread it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

Shiryu smiled slightly as he reached the end of the path that lead up to his training ground. As he had expected, the small cottage that he had lived in with his master was still there, and next to it, bent over the small vegetable garden, was a figure with long hair pulled back into a braid.

"Shunrei!" Shiryu called as he approached. The figure started faintly, then turned around. A smile curled at soft lips and Shiryu's childhood friend beamed at him.

"Shiryu! Back so soon?" Shunrei asked, looking delighted.

Shiryu felt a flash of regret. He wouldn't be able to take long with Shunrei.

"Yes. I'm here to talk to Master Dohko. Is he by the waterfall like usual?" He spoke to her.

Shunrei's face fell slightly before she responded. "Is he ever anywhere else?" She asked.

Shiryu almost snorted at that. Shunrei was right.

"I'm sorry I don't have time to talk." He apologized.

Shunrei shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Saints are always busy people. Go talk to the Master."

"Thanks Shunrei." Shiryu said before he headed past her and ledge overlooking the waterfall.

Slowly, the Old Master came into view, a tiny man in green robes and a straw hat, sitting at the edge of the ledge as he meditated. He stirred as Shiryu approached.

"Shiryu. It is good to see you again."

"You as well, Master." Shiryu greeted the old man.

"Come, sit. And tell me what brings you here." Master Dohko said.

Shiryu did as he was told, sitting down next to his master, and began to talk.

"I see." Master Dohko said as Shiryu finished his story. "You've found the true Athena."

"Master you knew that the Athena in Sanctuary was false?" Shiryu asked, strangely unsurprised.

"I suspected." The Old Master responded. "Ever since that night."

"What night?" Shiryu asked.

Before the Dohko could respond, there was a familiar clank of armor.

"Probably the night Aiolos betrayed Sanctuary." An unfamiliar voice spoke.

Shiryu and his master both turned to see a man in gold armor standing by the path, Shunrei's hair gripped in one hand.

"Shunrei!" Shiryu yelled in alarm.

Shunrei just stared at him, looking terrified.

Master Dohko, on the other hand, seemed perfectly calm. "The Cancer Gold Saint." He said. "Deathmask, I believe you call yourself."

"That's right. And I'm under orders from the Pope to kill you, Roshi."

 _Roshi?_ Shiryu wondered. He'd never heard anyone call his master that before. He brushed the thought away.

"As if I'd let you hurt Master Dohko." He spat, reaching for his Cloth. "Let Shunrei go." Before he could call on his Cloth properly, he was interrupted by another voice.

"There's no need to fight."

Shiryu found himself turning once again, but this time, the sight was familiar. Another man, this one also wearing a gold Cloth, but with horns reaching over his shoulders.

"Mu." Dohko murmured. "How good to see you."

The Cancer Saint seemed less impressed. "I know you." He spat. "You're the Gold Saint of Jamir, the one they call Mu."

"That is correct." Mu said. "Now I don't think you want to fight both of us." He gestured towards Shiryu. "This will all be resolved if you let her go."

"Tch." Deathmask bared his teeth. "Fine." He snarled. Without warning he threw Shunrei towards Shiryu and Dohko. Shiryu caught her, pushing the girl behind him as he dropped into a battle stance.

"I'll be back for you, old man." The Cancer Saint growled, and disappeared.

"Relax, Shiryu. The danger has passed." Master Dohko said calmly. "It is time for you to go home."

"I can't." Shiryu responded angrily. "You heard him. He's coming back. You're in danger, Master."

"I am always in danger, Shiryu. Such is the fate of those who serve Athena."

"Speaking of Athena, she needs you, Shiryu." Mu said.

"But-" Shiryu went to protest, only to be interrupted.

"If it makes you feel better, I will stay here for the time being." The Gold Saint offered.

Shiryu hesitated. Mu had been a regular visitor to Master Dohko for years, and Shiryu had gotten to know him quite well, he trusted the man, but still...

"Shiryu." Master Dohko spoke up. "What does your heart tell you?"

Shiryu blinked. "My heart."

"You are of Athena' Vanguard, Shiryu, your heart will always tell you what to do."

Shiryu closed his eyes. _Athena's Vanguard. My heart?_

He opened his eyes again. "My heart tells me to go to Athena." He admitted.

"Then you have your answer." Master Dohko said. "You must go immediately."

"Yes Master. And thank you, Mu-san." Shiryu answered. "Shunrei, I'll see you soon."

"Be careful." Shunrei told him.

Shiryu nodded, then turned and headed back down the path. Back to Japan. Back to Athena.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little shorter than I meant it to be, and perhaps kind of anti-climactic. What do you all think?
> 
> See you next time.


	13. Auriga and Cerberus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Silver Saints make trouble, and a friend makes an appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Yet another chapter. I'm on a roll! I'm planning on having things pick up this chapter (again).
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

"So Sanctuary is an absolute disaster, but no one is willing to go against the Pope and say something is wrong. Or they just don't care enough to do so." Aiolos summarized what Hyoga had told him.

"That's about the size of it." Hyoga responded.

The entire group of Saints, plus Tatsumi and Saori were once again gathered in the living room of the villa discussing what Shiryu and Hyoga had learned while visiting their masters.

"Did you learn anything more than that, Shiryu?" Aiolos inquired.

"I'm afraid Master Dohko couldn't even tell me that much." Shiryu replied. "He mentioned 'that night' but I didn't get a chance to ask what he meant."

"Why not?" Seiya asked.

"We were interrupted by the Gold Saint of Cancer."

"Emilio? He was there?" Aiolos asked, looking slightly alarmed.

Shiryu blinked in confusion. "Master Dohko called him Deathmask." He told the Sagittarius Saint.

Aiolos's expression turned grim. "Anything else?" He asked.

"He claimed the Pope sent him to kill Master Dohko." Shiryu said.

"So we know Sanctuary is a mess. And that the Pope is sending Gold Saints to kill people. But that doesn't tell us what to do about it. Nor does it help us with the fact that there will likely be more attempts on Saori's life." Esmeralda pointed out.

"And all of ours too." Talus added. "We've made targets out of ourselves by siding with the real Athena. And Saga is sending out Gold Saints. It's only a matter of time before one is sent after us."

"Speaking of which." Aiolos muttered. "I assume you've all sensed the approaching Cosmo."

Everyone except Saori and Tatsumi nodded.

"They're headed this way at pretty high speeds." Ikki said.

"We need to intercept them." Talus added.

"No." Aiolos said. "Ikki, Seiya, Shiryu, Hyoga. You four will go. The rest of us will stay here to protect Saori."

For once, no one argued as the chosen Bronzes donned their Cloths and headed out of the villa in the direction of the approaching Cosmos.

* * *

It didn't take long to reach the spot where the approaching Cosmos had stopped. It was the top of the same cliff where Seiya had fought Misty. Ikki dropped into the clearing, followed by the other three Bronze Saints, and stopped dead.

In front of him stood two Saints. Judging by their Cosmo, they were at least Silver level. One had spiked armor and carried chains with spiked balls on the ends, the other one had strange disk-like weapons attached to his hips.

"Who are you?" Shiryu demanded of the Silver Saints.

One of them, the one carrying the chains, sneered. "A lowly Bronze, demanding _my_ name? What need do you have of my name, when you're already as good as dead?"

"They're Auriga Capella and Cerberus Dante." Seiya piped up, and Ikki almost snorted at the irritated look on the chain-bearing one's face. That one was probably the Cerberus Saint, going by the spikes.

"You know us? How flattering. Now prepare to die!" The Auriga Saint said. "Saucer Attack!"

The Silver Saint threw one of the disks, which promptly multiplied into several dozen.

"Scatter!" Ikki yelled. The four Bronze Saints dodged in different directions, splitting up to avoid becoming easy targets.

"Dante!" The Auriga Saint called. "You deal with the punks. Phoenix is mine."

Ikki gritted his teeth. Auriga was definitely cocky if he thought that Cerberus would be able to deal with Seiya, Shiryu, and Hyoga all at the same time. That, or Cerberus was very strong.

* * *

Hyoga dodged to the side as the Cerberus Saint sent one of his spiked balls flying at him. The Silver Saint was proving to be a fierce opponent, managing to keep all three Bronze Saints on their toes with his attacks, while simultaneously preventing them from hitting him back. Already, he had deflected Shiryu's Rising Dragon, and either blocked or dodged an entire barrage of Seiya's Meteor Fist, which was quite a bit faster than it used to be.

Dropping back to the ground next to Shiryu, Hyoga had an idea.

"Shiryu, can you catch one of his chains?"

"Are you mad?" Shiryu hissed as Seiya dodged another attack.

"Maybe. I have an idea. Just trust me." Hyoga hissed back.

Shiryu gave him a doubtful look, but lunged for the Cerberus Saint's outstretched chain, grabbing it and pulling it tight.

Hyoga straightened up "Seiya!" He yelled.

Seiya, apparently seeing what Shiryu was doing, grabbed for the other chain, managing to latch onto it, though he couldn't quite get a good grip on it. It would have to do.

Hyoga drew his fist back, focusing on the cool mountain air. "Diamond Dust!" He shouted, throwing his attack towards the middle of the chains. It worked like a charm. Frost built up on the chains, turning them an icy white.

"Pull!" Shiryu yelled to Seiya, who had gotten a better grip on the chain. Both Bronzes gave a sharp jerk, and the now-brittle chains snapped in the middle.

"Hit him!" Seiya cried.

"Lushan Rising Dragon!"

"Diamond Dust!"

"Pegasus Meteor Fist!"

The three attacks hit the Cerberus Saint from three different directions, and Hyoga watched with disturbing satisfaction as the Silver Saint toppled off the cliff's edge with a scream.

Before any of the three Bronzes had a chance to celebrate, a yell drew their attention to Ikki's fight.

* * *

Another of the Auriga Saint's Saucer Attacks forced Ikki to throw himself out of the way. He was entirely on the defensive and at a disadvantage against the other Saint's attacks.

"I've heard of you, you know." Auriga jeered at Ikki. "Rumor has it you killed the master of Death Queen Island. I expected you to be more dangerous."

Ikki growled and drew his arms back. "Phoenix Rising Wings!" He focused his attack straight at the Auriga Saint, only for the man to dodge. Ikki nearly snarled.

"I don't care what you've heard about me."

Auriga scoffed. "You might care when you know I've heard that the Phoenix was said to be the most fearsome of Athena's Vanguard. But now I see that the legend was wrong. You're just a mewling kitten. Hardly the terrifying Phoenix."

Ikki's eyes narrowed. He didn't appreciate being called a mewling kitten, even by someone who was beating him.

"You think so?" He asked. "Fine then. I'll show you how terrifying the Phoenix can be."

He drew back one fist, focusing his Cosmo into it. "Demonic-"

_"Promise me you'll never use it."_

Esmeralda's voice echoed in his head, desperate and pleading. Ikki hesitated.

Years ago, on Death Queen Island, during a long night spent in the hidden library, Ikki had found a book detailing the many skills of the Phoenix Saint. One that had caught his interest at the time was the Demonic Illusion Fist, a technique designed to tear the victim's mind apart. At the time, Esmeralda had caught him reading the details of the technique and had freaked out, begging Ikki to never use the technique. He had promised, if somewhat reluctantly.

He couldn't break that promise.

"Oh? What's this? Can't do it, can you?" Auriga said condescendingly. "Good. All the simpler for me to kill you. Saucer Attack!"

The saucer flew towards Ikki with alarming speed, giving the Phoenix Saint no chance to dodge. He yelled as several of the saucers impacted him, sending him flying back into a tree. Ikki slid to the ground as the yells of his fellow Saints reached his ears.

"You're friends won't be able to reach you in time. Now die!" Auriga cried, raising his arms to throw one last saucer.

Before the Auriga Saint could throw the weapon that would inevitably end Ikki's life, a figure slammed into the Silver Saint, throwing him to the ground before leaping away to land in a fighting stance in front of Ikki.

It took a moment for Ikki's greyed vision to clear enough to make out the figure in front of him, but the green armor was all too familiar.

"Shun!" Ikki gasped, but his brother didn't turn to look at him.

"Who the hell are you?" The Auriga Saint demanded of Shun, glaring at him venomously.

"Canis Minor Shun. But you'd know that if you were paying attention in Sanctuary." Shun replied.

 _Canis Minor,_ Ikki thought distractedly, _That explains the ears._

"May I would. Maybe I wouldn't." Auriga sneered. "But who cares? If you're so eager to die with your friends, then so be it."

With that comment, the Auriga Saint threw yet another of his attacks. This time, the saucer multiplied and then the many copies started to glow a bright yellow.

Shun glanced back briefly at Ikki, and the Phoenix Saint was sure he saw the hint of a spark of amusement in Shun's eye, the first emotion he'd seen since they'd met again. Then he turned back towards his enemy.

Lifting one arm out to his side, Shun spoke softly. "Gomeisa Flare." He swept his arm in an arc in front of him, and a series of spots of light swept from his fingers, impacting Auriga's disks and shattering each and every one.

Ikki stared, startled by the strength of Shun's attack.

Auriga Capella was also clearly startled by Shun's strength, taking a small step back. Then he grinned.

"You're stronger than I expected for someone trained by the student of a traitor." He spat. "Not that it matters. I'm going to-"

He was cut off as Shun disappeared, reappearing just in time to slam an elbow into Auriga's stomach, driving the air out of the man's lungs. Without waiting, Shun spun around, slamming a kick into the back of Auriga's knees and sending him crashing to the ground. Shun then retreated a few steps, watching patiently as the Auriga Saint gasped for breath.

"Damn you!" Auriga wheezed. "You're going to regret going against me!"

"I don't have time for regrets. Not anymore." Shun replied impassively. Slowly, almost meticulously, Shun lifted his arm to point at the Auriga Saint. "Gomeisa Flare."

This time, Shun attacked with a single point of light, which shot toward the Auriga Saint and pierced straight through the man's unprotected neck. Auriga jerked, one hand going to his neck as shock spread across his face. Then he collapsed forward.

Ikki pushed himself up, his shock echoing that last look on the Auriga Saint's face as he stared at his younger brother.

"Shun?" Ikki asked slowly. "What did you just do?"

The Canis Minor Saint turned to face his older brother, his eyes above the face mask as blank as Ikki remembered them from that day in the Colosseum.

"Are you stupid?" The boy asked instead of answering Ikki's question. "You never hesitate in a fight. Always take your enemy out. Before they can take you out."

Ikki flinched slightly at that. Shun was right. He shouldn't have hesitated.

"Ikki!" Seiya's voice called. Ikki turned to see the other three Bronzes headed towards him, all looking concerned.

"Are you okay?" Shiryu asked.

"I'm fine." Ikki answered. "Shun helped me." He turned back to his brother, only to freeze.

Shun was gone. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. I like this chapter. What do you guys think? Did I get the fights right?
> 
> See you next time!


	14. Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bronze Saints return from their fight with the Saints of Auriga and Cerberus. Aiolos has an idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How about another chapter? I'm doing pretty well, and I think that, with a few tweaks, I have the rest of the Silver Saints arc planned out. This is, of course, in my head, I tried outlining and it didn't work very well.
> 
> I think this is a slower chapter, I'm touching on some things that were briefly mentioned in past chapters. You'll see.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

_"Say, Brother, why are we going out into the woods like this?"_

_"I'm confused too. There are plenty of perfectly good training grounds inside Sanctuary."_

_"Aiolia, Talus, what did I tell you before we left?"_

_Talus frowned, his round face scrunching up in thought. "You told us this was special training."_

_Aiolos smiled encouragingly at the young Gold trainee. "Exactly. We can't do this training inside Sanctuary, not with so many other Cosmos around. It would be too confusing."_

_"Oh."_

_"Yeah, 'oh'. You kids are unbelievable."_

_"I don't want to hear anything from you, Kanon!" Aiolia scowled._

_"I think you absolutely need to hear from me." Kanon said, grinning as he fell into step with the other three boys. "Right, Aiolos?"_

_Aiolos blinked. Kanon's features were blurring, as were the forms of Talus and Aiolia next to him._

_"I..." He started to say._

_"Aiolos?"_

_"Aiolos, wake up!"_

Aiolos snapped awake with an unpleasant jolt, and found himself staring up at Talus from where he was slumped over the arm of the couch.

"Did I fall asleep?" He mumbled, straightening up as he blinked to clear his vision.

"You did." Talus said, amusement dancing in his eyes briefly before his gaze turned serious again. "Ikki and the others are back."

Aiolos just about shot to attention, then turned to see the five young Bronzes gathered around the other couch. He blinked.

Seiya and Hyoga looked mostly unharmed, other than a few scratches. Shiryu was still in his armor, making it hard to tell if he was injured or not.

Ikki was the one who really caught Aiolos's attention. The Phoenix Saint was sitting on the couch, head leaned back. Esmeralda crouched in front of him, her hands hovering over his chest, glowing with a soft grey light.

Aiolos stood up, moving to get a better view of Ikki's chest, and promptly winced. The oldest of the Bronze Saints had a truly spectacular bruise in the middle of his chest. The bruise was a dark, painful looking purple in the center, but the edges were starting to fade to the yellow of a half-healed bruise.

"What happened?" Aiolos demanded, glancing around at the other Bronzes. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Seiya spoke.

"We ran into a pair of Silver Saints on the same cliff where I fought Misty. We beat them, but Ikki got hit." He told the Sagittarius Saint.

Aiolos eyed the Phoenix Saint, who glanced up at him briefly before looking away with a noncommittal grunt.

"How bad is it?" He asked, turning to Esmeralda.

The blonde girl sighed, and leaned back. "It's just a bruise and some broken ribs. I've healed his ribs, but the bruise I'll have to deal with later. I can't heal too much at one time."

"It's fine." Ikki grumbled. "I heal quickly."

Without warning, Esmeralda's hand shot out and smacked Ikki in the chest, right in the middle of the bruise.

Ikki lurched forward, gasping in pain at the sudden impact on the still-purple bruise. "Esmeralda!" He wheezed.

"With that attitude, you can heal on your own. I give it three days until you can move without any pain."

Seiya snickered, only to wince when Ikki moved to glare at him.

A thought occurred to Aiolos.

"Well then, three days it is." He said cheerily.

"What about three days?" Hyoga asked, looking rightfully suspicious.

"Three days until you get to do some special training." Aiolos told him, making sure to keep the smile on his face.

"Training? We're still doing that?" Seiya whined.

"Of course." Talus spoke up. "These attacks aren't any reason to skimp on training. What did you have in mind, Aiolos?"

"Do you remember the day I took you into the forest? The day Kanon came with us?"

Talus's expression twisted into something almost sad. "I do."

"I want you to teach these five how to do that."

"What are we learning?" Shiryu inquired curiously.

"Maneuvering in enclosed spaces." Talus answered, grimacing.

Aiolos chuckled at the expression on the black-haired Saint's face. "Don't worry. You're in charge this time. I'll stay here to protect Athena."

"Maybe we shouldn't all go at once?" Esmeralda suggested. "There should be more of us here to protect Saori."

Talus hummed thoughtfully. "We won't go far." He finally said. "There's a big copse of trees less than a mile from here that we can use."

When everyone stared at him, he sighed. "And I'll ask Shun to come watch the villa, so that he can warn us if anything happens."

"Wait. Shun doesn't have to train with us?" Ikki asked.

"No. Shun's already done this training. He'll be fine."

"Okay."

"Good. Now you go sleep. You shouldn't push yourself with that bruise." Esmeralda piped up, giving Ikki a gentle shove.

Ikki scowled, but complied, disappearing down the hall towards the room he and Hyoga were sharing.

"I guess that gives the rest of us a few days off." Seiya said, grinning, and went to head for his and Shiryu's room.

"Oh no you don't." Aiolos said. "There's always room for improvement. You four are coming with me for training."

Everyone laughed as Seiya groaned in protest.

* * *

The next day found Aiolos and Talus in the basement of the villa, looking around for some equipment.

"I'm sure Kido kept some hunting equipment here. He was a big fan of the martial combat styles." Aiolos muttered.

"If you're talking guns, I'll just use my own attacks." Talus huffed.

Aiolos scoffed. "I mean a bow and arrows. Even at low power, your attacks are too strong for this kind of training."

"And yours weren't?" Talus retorted as he dug through a bin.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aiolos asked, turning to look at his former student.

"You fired Ethereal Shots at us!" Talus squawked.

"I never aimed to kill you!" Aiolos said indignantly.

"That doesn't mean that it didn't hurt to get hit." Talus grumbled.

Aiolos sighed, but didn't bother responding. Then, "Aha!" He said triumphantly as he pulled a bow and a quiver of arrows out of a cabinet.

"Find something?" Talus asked.

"Sure did." Aiolos told him, waving the bow and arrows at him.

Talus sighed. "Let's go make sure that those arrows are in good shape."

"Right." Aiolos said, and lead the way upstairs to the villa's main level.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Another less action-y chapter. We're actually most of the way through the Silver Saints arc, I think. Just a few chapters to go.
> 
> (As I realize that I've planned everything out but one thing. Shit.)
> 
> See you soon!


	15. The Truth II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just because Aiolos says it's necessary, doesn't mean Shiryu has to like this so-called "special training". Talus gives the Bronze Saints a bit of insight into Shun's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I didn't exactly expect to have so much inspiration all of a sudden. I'm writing faster than I can post.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

"Esmeralda, stop using your wings! Don't let your greatest advantage become a crutch." Talus called out as he shot another arrow at the Columba Saint.

Shiryu watched Esmeralda dodge, barely avoiding the arrow.

 _'Not a great shot' indeed._ Shiryu thought to himself.

Shiryu himself was hiding in the branches of a tree directly above Talus, using the man's focus on Esmeralda and Seiya as a chance to catch his breath. Talus was not going easy on them, and he had what Shiryu could only think was several hundred arrows. Either that, or he was somehow retrieving the arrows in between bouts of shooting.

A whistling sound had Shiryu moving, throwing himself out of his safe spot just in time to avoid another arrow.

"No hiding, Shiryu." Talus yelled, staring straight at the startled Dragon Saint's new perch. "Most Silver and Gold Saints will pinpoint you based on Cosmo alone."

Shiryu cursed his luck at being Talus's new target, but made for another jump, only for an arrow to bounce off his shin guard.

"And now you can't walk!" Talus added.

Shiryu darted off into the trees, circling around in the hopes of running into someone who could take over being chased, all the while dodging and blocking more arrows.

He landed in a tree, and quickly slid around the trunk as Talus shot an arrow past him. The arrow was followed by the Fox Saint, and, judging by the horrified yell, he had found new prey.

Shiryu sighed in relief at the brief respite.

"You'd better move your tail, Dragon. This is my spot." Ikki's voice sounded from above Shiryu. The black-haired teenager looked up to see the Phoenix Saint perched precariously on a branch about ten feet up.

"Keep talking and you'll give both of us away." Shiryu retorted.

Ikki didn't get a chance to reply as a voice called out from the clearing directly below them.

"That's enough, all of you! I'm out of arrows!" Talus yelled, his voice echoing around the trees.

Shiryu peaked around the trunk of his tree in time to see Seiya's head pop out of a patch of leaves, accompanied by an excited "Really?"

The Pegasus Saint let out a yelp as an arrow shot past him, just barely ruffling his hair, and quickly ducked back into the foliage.

Talus laughed. "Alright. I'm serious this time. You're done."

"Really?" Hyoga's voice echoed from Shiryu's left.

"Yes, really." Talus assured them.

Slowly, Hyoga dropped down into the clearing, followed by Shiryu, Seiya, and Ikki. Esmeralda joined them a moment later, looking disgruntled.

Today was the second day of dodge training. Or hell training, as Seiya had named it. Talus would use his bow and arrows to shoot at the Bronze Saints, who had to dodge. Being hit didn't result in penalties of any kind, but Shiryu was fairly sure that Talus was using Cosmo to power the arrows, judging by the bruises that had formed after the first day of training.

"Alright." Talus said once they were all gathered, and the many arrows had been retrieved. "Let's take a break, then we can head back for the day."

"Shouldn't we go straight back?" Esmeralda asked in concern.

"We can wait for you all to catch your breath. Besides, I want to test your speed. We'll all be racing back."

"Great." Seiya grumbled. "More training."

"No complaining. You signed up for a life of training when you became a Saint. Even Gold Saints still train on a regular basis after earning their Cloths." Talus said.

Seiya just grumbled unintelligibly.

"I've got a question." Ikki said suddenly. "It's about Shun."

"What about him?" Talus asked warily.

"What happened to him? Shun was never so cold as a kid. He was always smiling or crying or... something. But never this." Ikki said.

Talus's expression darkened. "To be honest, I'm not really sure I have the right information to be answering that question. Or even if I should. What's going on in Shun's head is his own business."

"I'm his brother!" Ikki burst out angrily. "It's my business too. You didn't have a problem telling Aiolos about his brother, what's so different about mine?"

Talus glanced away, then sighed. "Alright. I'll tell you what I do know. Just promise me one thing. Don't force Shun to talk. This is harder for him than it seems."

"Okay." Ikki said slowly. The other four Bronzes nodded slowly in agreement.

"I found Shun back when he was still training with the rest of the Bronze-level trainees. He wasn't particularly skilled in any area of training, and he refused to fight back against his opponents in the sparring ring. But he stood out to because he was kind. He was always offering his food to the other trainees, or helping them dress their wounds in fights. No one quite knew what to do with him, but I saw the traits of a particular Saint, Andromeda."

"Andromeda?" Seiya asked.

"Yes. I trust you're all familiar with the concept of reincarnated Saints?" Talus waited for all of the younger Saints to nod. "Good. You see, in my past life, I had the honor of fighting alongside the Andromeda Saint. He stood out among all of Athena's Saints for being the most kind, and the most selfless. Every time I saw Shun, I saw those same traits. So, I talked to the Pope. I asked him to send Shun to Andromeda Island for his training. Unfortunately, I was ignored. The Pope claimed that the true Andromeda Saint had already been found, and said that if I felt Shun was so special, I could train him myself. So I did.

"Shun was a difficult student. He cried when he didn't want to do something, and he absolutely refused to learn to fight. The only way to get through to him was to offer a compromise. He would train as long as I didn't teach him to hurt people. Shun excelled in both speed and defensive fighting in a way I'd never seen before. Then, the Pope caught on to what I was doing. He saw Shun beat another trainee without ever hitting him. That's when I was told to train Shun for the Canis Minor Cloth. Perhaps my biggest mistake was agreeing to that instead of fighting for Shun to get a different Cloth."

"What makes you so sure that was a mistake?" Esmeralda asked.

"I'm sure because Shun wasn't born to wear the Canis Minor Cloth. I realized it as soon as he put it on the first time. Since he wasn't born to wear it, Shun can't control the Canis Minor Cloth's power properly, and it's going to get him killed if he fights the wrong opponent."

"Does Shun know this?" Ikki growled quietly.

"Yes." Talus admitted softly. "I didn't get a chance to be the one to tell him though. The same day he earned his Cloth, Shun was called to meet the Pope alone. I don't know what he was told there, but it changed him. When he came back, he was cold and... angry. He hasn't been the same since, but I don't know why. He never told me what happened in the Pope's chambers that day."

"So Shun's wearing a Cloth that's going to kill him, and he's seriously upset about something that the Pope told him. But we've already established that the Pope is Gemini Saga and that he's a lying bastard." Hyoga summed up. "Brilliant."

"We also know that Saga was the one who paid off the driver who was supposed to take Shun back to the orphanage though, right?" Shiryu quickly spoke up. "Maybe that means something."

"It probably does." Esmeralda said.

Talus frowned suddenly, tilting his head to the side as thought listening to something.

"Shit." He swore.

"What's wrong?" Shiryu asked, instantly on alert.

"There's someone attacking the villa." Talus said.

The five Bronze Saints started, but a laugh interrupted them.

"That's right!" A voice said. "There's someone headed towards your precious 'Athena' right now. She's as good as dead."

All six Saints whipped around to stare at the man perched on a branch above them.

"Hound Asterion!" Talus hissed. "You're not getting to Athena."

"You're right. I won't get the pleasure of killing that traitor. I'm here for you." The man-Asterion-said.

Talus snarled in anger. "Seiya, Hyoga, with me. Ikki, Esmeralda, Shiryu, head back. You have to get to Athena."

"Right!" Ikki said, and took off into the trees. Shiryu was quick to follow as Esmeralda unfurled her wings and shot for the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is a good place to end this chapter. We got Talus's insight into Shun's past, but the full reveal will be in a few chapters.
> 
> See you next time!


	16. Petrification

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An attack on the villa leads to an unpleasant experience for a few of the Saints. Just when they think they're safe, disaster strikes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Welcome to the newest chapter of Justice. This one is a big one. Stuff happens. Enjoy.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

"Well if this isn't convenient, I don't know what is."

Aiolos jerked around from where he had been standing in the grassy clearing in front of the villa. It wasn't hard to tell where the voice had come from.

Two Saints stood in front of him. One wore red and orange armor with a flame themed pattern, while the other was clearly a Silver Saint.

"Who are you?" Aiolos asked warily.

"I am Perseus Algol," The Silver Saint sneered. "And you, Sagittarius Aiolos, are a dead man."

"Aiolos?" Saori's voice called. Aiolos froze. That wasn't good. "What's going on?"

"Get back inside, Saori." Aiolos ordered, keeping his eyes on the two Saints. "These two are dangerous."

"You're damn right we are!" The flame-themed Saint spat. "Fire Screw!" He yelled.

It was easy enough for Aiolos to bat away the stream of fire the Saint shot at him. He deflected it to the side, and it dispersed into thin air.

"I'm not so easy to take out." He growled.

"Maybe not," Perseus Algol said, "But your goddess is."

"Oh no you don't!" Another voice interrupted from within the tree line.

Shun appeared, shooting forward to slam an elbow into the Flame Saint's side, throwing the man to the ground. The Flame Saint hissed and struggled to push himself up, but Shun planted a sharp kick in his gut, winding him.

"You're next." The young Saint growled as he turned to Algol.

The Perseus Saint smirked lightly. "Am I now?" He asked as he readied his left arm. Aiolos froze when he saw the shield on the man's arm.

"Shun be careful!" He tried to warn the boy, but it was too late.

Shun went still as a statue, then suddenly turned to stone.

Aiolos cursed silently.

"You're next, goddess." The Perseus Saint said triumphantly.

Aiolos moved without thinking, throwing himself in front of Saori. "Close your eyes!" He ordered Saori.

Almost immediately, the Gold Saint felt the effects of the shield as his feet started to turn to stone.

"Sacrificing yourself for your fake goddess?" Algol asked. "How pathetic. Your powerful Cosmo may slow the petrification down, but once you've been turned to stone, I'll kill your precious Athena. Then I'll take your statue back to Sanctuary, you'll be displayed for eternity as 'The Great Traitor of Athena'." He cackled gleefully.

Aiolos growled. _"_ _Talus,"_ He called telepathically, _"_ _There are Saints attacking the villa. Perseus and one who uses fire. Shun has been turned to stone already, and I'm not going to be that far behind. Come back, quickly!"_

 _"Got it. We're on our way."_ Came Talus's reply.

"Are you listening?" Algol demanded.

Aiolos smirked at the other Saint, even as he felt the petrification creep up his legs. Reaching back, he grabbed Saori's wrist. The girl gasped in surprise, but didn't get a chance to say or do anything as Aiolos focused his Cosmo and teleported her away. He'd petrify much faster, and she wouldn't be far, but it would hopefully get her out of the line of fire until the situation could be dealt with.

"You little-" Algol snarled. "Sending your precious Athena away won't save her. I'll just hunt her down and kill her anyway."

"No you won't." Aiolos retorted. "If you've been sent here by Sanctuary, then you know I'm not Athena's only protector. The others will never let you hurt her."

"I'll just turn the others to stone, just like you." Algol told him angrily.

Aiolos lifted his chin as the petrification made its way to his chin. "You can try." He said as he closed his eyes and let the petrification take over entirely.

* * *

Shiryu slowed as he reached the villa, joining Ikki in hiding himself behind a tree while Esmeralda was hidden in the branches of the tree Ikki was hidden behind.

Peeking cautiously around the tree, Shiryu took in the situation before him.

Aiolos stood on the lawn before the villa, still as stone. No, Shiryu realized, Aiolos _was_ stone. He couldn't see Tatsumi or Miss Saori. Hopefully they were safely inside.

Two Saints, one in red armor and one in silver armor, stood near Aiolos. Straining his ears, Shiryu could just barely hear what they were saying.

"The fake Athena is somewhere in that direction, go get her and bring her back." The one in the silver Cloth ordered the other Saint. The red-clad Saint nodded and took off in the indicated direction.

Shiryu glanced at Ikki, who pointed at himself and then jerked his thumb in the direction the Saint had gone in. Shiryu nodded, and Ikki took off through the trees.

Shiryu turned his attention back to the clearing as the other Saint, probably a Silver, propped himself against one of the supports of the balcony.

"I know you're there. You can come out now." The Silver Saint called. Shiryu ground his teeth, but stepped out.

"You're the one trying to kill Athena." He growled as Esmeralda landed next to him.

"Oh... So you're one of her protectors." The man retorted. "Not that it matters. You'll all be dead soon enough."

"Not soon enough that we can't take you out." Esmeralda hissed, and charged him.

The man smirked and held up his left arm, the strange shield on his arm glowing red in the eyes.

"Esmeralda, watch out!" Shiryu yelled in alarm. He darted forward, yanking Esmeralda away and pulling her behind a tree.

Glancing down as he heard a strange sound, Shiryu's eyes widened as he saw that Esmeralda's left leg had been turned to stone.

"What the-" The blond-haired Saint hissed as she reached down to check if her leg was really stone. It was.

"I told you, you'll all be dead soon enough." The Saint said.

"Hey you! Creep!" Tatsumi's voice yelled from the direction of the villa.

Shiryu glanced out from his hiding place in time to see the Silver Saint turn, pointing his shield at Tatsumi. The butler was keeping one arm in front of his eyes, but Shiryu was forced to watch as the man turned to stone anyway. Shiryu dodged back behind his tree, and shared a look with Esmeralda.

"What a fool." The Silver declared. "My Medusa Shield can turn a person to stone even if they cover their eyes. No eyelid or blindfold will block its power."

 _He must be the Perseus Saint,_ Shiryu realized, _And his shield has the same powers as the Medusa of myth._

"So we can't just cover our eyes." Esmeralda muttered. "And using your shield so you don't have to look won't work. There's no way the Perseus Saint himself would fall for that."

Shiryu was forced to agree, unfortunately.

"Are you going to keep me waiting?" The Perseus Saint asked. "You know it's futile, so why put off the inevitable?"

"It's not futile!" Esmeralda shot back. "This is risky, but I need you to stay here. I'll make a smokescreen so that the shield's effects don't reach your eyes, then you'll have to hit him with everything you've got." She ordered Shiryu.

The Dragon Saint hesitated. "Be careful." He told her. Esmeralda nodded.

Turning, she shot into the sky.

"I told you it's useless." The Perseus Saint sneered. "A mere Bronze like you will be stone in seconds, unlike a Gold who takes a while."

Shiryu blinked at that. _Does that mean...? If I burn my Cosmo like a Gold Saint, it will slow the petrification? That's useful._

"Dust Devil!" He heard Esmeralda yell. There was a rush of wind, and when Shiryu looked, he found his vision obscured by a storm of dust, dirt and leaves.

Closing his eyes, Shiryu focused. _Burn, my Cosmo!_ He thought. It only took a moment, and suddenly, Shiryu could feel everything. The raging Cosmo of Esmeralda's technique, the nasty darkness of the Perseus Saint. Everything.

Opening his eyes, Shiryu darted into the dust storm. It proved to be quite easy to move through, and Shiryu could sense the Perseus Saint in the middle of it all.

"You think this will stop me?" The man yelled over the raging wind. "The moment one of you steps out of that storm, you'll be stone."

"Is that so?" Shiryu yelled back. "Try me!"

He charged into the eye of the storm, free of the flying debris and dirt, his Cosmo blazing.

He could already feel the Medusa Shield taking effect. Suddenly, Shiryu couldn't see, as if his eyes were turning to stone. But Shiryu didn't need to see, not as long as he had his Cosmo.

"Lushan Rising Dragon!" He yelled, punching forward with all his might.

He heard the impact, heard the Perseus Saint's surprised yell. A moment later the sound of something shattering reached his ears, before he could see once more.

Shiryu blinked rapidly as the dirt storm died down around him. He could see the Perseus Saint, lying on the ground. Shiryu moved to check the man over, and was more than a bit started to find that he wasn't breathing. He hadn't realized he'd hit the other Saint hard enough to kill him.

A soft thump echoed behind him as Esmeralda landed clumsily, unbalanced by the stone leg, which, thankfully, was back to normal.

Shiryu took a quick look around as he stood over the Perseus Saint, taking in the area, which was stripped of most of its greenery. Even some of the nearby trees hadn't been spared.

Just under the balcony, Aiolos leaned heavily against one of the pillars, no longer stone, but looking slightly shaken. Tatsumi was back to normal as well.

A light _pat_ drew Shiryu's attention to behind him, and he started slightly. He had totally missed that Shun had also been turned to stone. The Canis Minor Saint was crouched on the ground, glancing warily around for any more enemies.

Fortunately, there were none.

"Well, looks like this got wrapped up nice and clean." Ikki appeared out of the trees, the other Saint slung over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Saori was following behind him, shaking slightly and looking more than a bit terrified. "Everyone alright?"

Esmeralda glanced around, taking everyone in, even Tatsumi up on the balcony. "I think we're okay. What about you two?" She told Ikki.

"We're good." He grunted, and dropped the other Saint on the ground next to the Perseus Saint.

Shiryu wasn't so sure that Saori was fine, but Tatsumi and Aiolos were already moving to fuss over the girl, while Ikki went to check on Shun.

Shiryu watched as the Phoenix Saint rested a hand on his brother's shoulder, only for Shun to pull himself free with a sharp jerk.

There was no time to reflect on the obvious rejection, however, as Talus, Hyoga, and Seiya appeared from the tree line.

"Well, it seems there was no reason to rush back here so fast." Talus commented mildly. He raised an eyebrow at change in the clearing's appearance, and the two dead Saints lying on the ground. "Seems like you've been busy. Is everyone alright?"

"It would seem so." Aiolos called, stepping away from Saori to approach the Fox Saint. "Was there any trouble on your end?"

Seiya cut in before Talus could say anything. "It was nothing!" He said brightly. "Talus took out that Asterion guy like it was nothing."

Aiolos shot Talus a questioning look. The black-haired man just shrugged. "Hound Asterion. He's really a one trick puppy once you figure out how to get past his mind reading ability."

"Ah." Was Aiolos's only response, while Seiya snickered at the turn of phrase.

"So what do we do now?" Ikki asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Aiolos asked as the Phoenix Saint approached. Shun stood behind him, keeping his distance as usual.

"I mean that we can't keep up with all these attacks. How long until Sanctuary sends one of the other Gold Saints? What are we supposed to do then?"

Everyone glanced at each other, clearly unsure what to say.

"I think," Aiolos started slowly, "That it won't be long before they send a Gold Saint. But the truth is that there's nothing we can do except hope that, when the time comes, you'll be ready to fight one."

His words were less than comforting, but they were certainly true.

"Well," Seiya spoke up, throwing his hands behind his head, "At least everything's over for today."

As though it was waiting for someone to say something like that, a harsh laugh echoed from the trees around them.

"I wouldn't be so sure."

After that, everything happened all too fast.

* * *

Aiolos heard the rattling sound first. He spun around, eyes going wide as he saw the glinting silver chain, its pointed tip heading straight for Saori.

"Athena!" He yelled, instinct kicking in as he moved to reach his goddess. Just as he took a step, however, his foot caught on a rock and a burning pain lanced up his bad leg. Aiolos let out a gasp and stumbled. He lifted his head, eyes widening as he realized he wouldn't be fast enough to reach her.

Talus, however, was.

A sickening sound, like a knife being stabbed into raw meat, echoed around the clearing.

Aiolos stared in horror at his old student. Talus stood in front of Saori, arms spread as though to protect the girl, the end of the chain piercing straight through his armor and into his chest. Blood trickled slowly from the corner of his mouth.

"Master!" Shun cried, then suddenly screamed in pain.

Aiolos turned to the young Saint just in time to see him slump to the ground. A second chain retracted from where it had been wrapped around the boy's unconscious form. Aiolos followed the line of the chain back into the trees.

Talus made a quiet choking sound, once again drawing Aiolos's attention, just in time to see the end of the chain pulled out of the Fox Saint's chest.

Talus dropped to his knees.

"That was too easy." The same voice that had spoken a moment ago echoed again. Another Saint dropped into the clear, jerking the two chains back towards him.

"Who the hell are you?!" Ikki snarled as he crouched next to Shun, one hand resting on his younger brother's back.

"Andromeda Akio." The red-haired boy said, grinning.

 _Andromeda?!_ Aiolos wondered. _That should be impossible!_

"Not that you should be worrying about who I am. If I were you, I'd be more worried about your little friends. They don't look too good." With that, the boy took off into the trees.

Hyoga and Seiya were after him like a shot.

"We'll get him!" Hyoga called.

The Pegasus and Cygnus Saints were out of sight in moments, leaving the others in the clearing to pick up the pieces of the last few minutes' disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, that was a lot for one chapter. I admit I almost split it into two, but decided not to.
> 
> Anyway, leave a comment telling me what you think.
> 
> See you next time.


	17. Loss and Grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Saints deal with the fallout of Andromeda's attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So tell me, what do you all think of this story so far? I hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
> 
> Anyway, we'll be coming to the end of this arc in the next few chapters, and after that it's the Houses of the Zodiac arc.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

Aiolos closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the back of the couch he was sitting on.

Today had been a long day. First, the Perseus and Flame Saints had attacked, then it was the Andromeda Saint, Akio.

Talus and Shun were both injured. Talus had remained conscious long enough to persuade Esmeralda to heal Shun first, but Aiolos couldn't help but wonder if he should have ordered the girl otherwise.

Esmeralda could only heal so much in one day, and Aiolos wondered if Talus would last long enough for her to heal him in the morning.

A groan drew Aiolos out of a light doze, and he turned to the couch Talus lay on, only to realize it was empty.

Talus was kneeling on the ground next to Shun's couch. Both Saints would have been in the bedrooms, but everyone had been wary of moving either of them too far in their injured states.

Aiolos was about to scold the Fox Saint for moving around while he was badly injured, but before he could he sensed the warm burn of Talus's Cosmo. The younger man was using what Aiolos recognized as a type of telepathic communication.

Talus was leaving a message for Shun.

Aiolos waited until Talus's Cosmo settled before he spoke up. "You should be resting." He chided gently as he stood up and helped his old student get back to his couch.

Talus settled down into a sitting position, wincing, and putting a hand to the injury on his chest. "I have things to get done. I'll have plenty of time to rest after this. It is a little painful." He commented in an almost mild tone.

A snort escaped Aiolos as he dropped down next to the younger Saint. "A little? You were stabbed in the chest by the offensive end of the Nebula Chain, what do you expect?" He scoffed.

"Well, I expected to die, but even I can be surprised at how durable my life's thread can be against Atropos's scissors." Talus retorted.

"Esmeralda will be able to heal you in the morning." Aiolos told his friend. "You'll be fine after that, I think."

Talus's smiled softly. "You make it sound like I'll last that long." He murmured.

Aiolos flinched. "And you sound wholly confident that you won't."

The Fox Saint tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. "I know my limits, Aiolos." He breathed tiredly. "It's my greatest strength as the Fox Saint. Always has been. You know that."

Aiolos scowled. "Limits are what we make of them, and I say they're made to be broken." He told the black-haired Saint.

"Gemini Kanon. He sounded so damn confident when he said that." Talus said, a sound like a wheezing chuckle escaping him. "How is Athena?"

"Shaken. Badly." Aiolos answered. "I think this is all too much for her. Saori has always been sensitive to the people around her, and she hasn't even awakened as Athena yet."

"I didn't mean to scare her, but her safety is my-our-first priority. The likelihood of more of us dying by the end of this is high when you consider what we're up against." As he spoke, Talus's eyes started to drift shut, his words slurring together.

"Go to sleep, Talus." Aiolos murmured. He hesitated, then smoothed his hand through the younger man's black locks, the same way he had done with Aiolia when they were younger. "Esmeralda will heal you in the morning."

* * *

Ikki tossed and turned uncomfortably in his bed. He couldn't sleep. Images of the day's events seem to be burned into the backs of his eyelids, and every time he closed them the sight of Shun slumped on the ground after getting shocked by the Nebula Chains, of Talus taking the hit for Saori, flared up again, forcing him to open his eyes.

The Phoenix Saint finally gave up on sleep, slipping out of his bed and heading down the hall to the living room. Perhaps if he checked on Shun, he would be able to settle down enough to sleep, even if it meant lying on the rug in the living room so he could be around if anything changed.

Just as he reached the doorway into the living room, voices reached Ikki's ears, and he paused to listen.

_"I know my limits, Aiolos. It's my greatest strength as the Fox Saint. Always has been. You know that."_

Talus must have woken up, Ikki realized. He didn't sound good though, tired and almost resigned.

Before either of the older Saints could notice him, Ikki quickly slipped back to his room. He'd just have to check on Shun in the morning.

* * *

Shun came to consciousness slowly, like wading out of a pool of molasses. It wasn't a pleasant experience, as he slowly became aware of the ache in his limbs and stomach, like the time he took one of Cerberus Dante's spiked balls to the chest, only less focused in one area and more spread out across his body.

He groaned quietly, wincing at the pain.

"Shun?" A voice called quietly. Ikki.

Shun cracked his eyes slowly, and found the Phoenix Saint staring down at him, looking concerned. It wasn't something he was expecting.

The Canis Minor Saint was quick to push himself up into a sitting position, glancing around and finding himself in the living room of the Kido villa, sitting on one of the couches. Ikki was crouched beside the couch, watching him silently.

Shun frowned. His head ached, and he was sore pretty much everywhere. The last thing he remembered was...

"Talus!" He gasped, almost launching himself off the couch, only for Ikki to grab him and push him back.

"Stop, Shun." The Phoenix Saint said, sounding slightly desperate. "You're still hurt."

"Where's Talus?" Shun demanded, trying to pull away from the older teen.

"Calm down and I'll tell you." The blue-haired boy started to say, but Shun ignored him, looking frantically around the living room until his eyes fell on one of the other couches.

Shun felt his eyes go wide as he froze. Talus was lying on the couch, looking as though he was just asleep. But the harder Shun tried to sense his master's Cosmo, the more he realized he couldn't. "Master?" He choked quietly.

Shun made to get up, to get to his master's side, only to feel Ikki catch him by the shoulder.

"Shun-" Ikki started.

"Let me _go_ Ikki." Shun hissed.

"You need to rest. Esmeralda hasn't fully healed you yet." Was the older boy's protest.

Shun snarled. " _I said..._ Let. Me. _GO!"_ He jerked himself free of Ikki's grip, and almost ran to his master's side, dropping to his knees next to couch.

Shakily, he reached one hand out to touch Talus's fingers. The older Saint's hands were cold, almost freezing.

Talus was dead.

 _"No..."_ Shun breathed. _"No. Why?"_

Behind him, he heard Ikki move, probably standing up. "Shun, I'm so sorry." The Phoenix Saint started.

Something in Shun snapped at that. "You're _sorry_?" He hissed, rounding on the older boy. Ikki looked taken aback at the sudden venom in Shun's voice. "Sorry won't cut it, Ikki. My master is dead! Talus was everything to me. He was all I had left!"

A look of pain flashed across Ikki's face before his expression hardened and he glared right back at the younger Saint. "I'm sorry because your master is dead. Because he didn't deserve that and neither did you. I'm sorry because you're my little brother and you're hurting."

"Why do you care?!" Shun spat back standing up. "Why do you care if I'm hurting when you have the others? When you have Esmeralda?" He seethed.

"I care because you're my little brother! My _only_ brother! Do you have any idea how worried I was when you didn't come back?! But now you're here, and it's like you're a completely different person! Why are you so cold all of a sudden? What happened to you Shun?"

Shun flinched back at that, at Ikki's admission that he still thought of Shun as a brother. Abruptly, he felt the fight, all the sudden anger and frustration, just... drain away. He wrapped his arms around himself, turning away from Ikki to stare at his master's body.

"I..." He started to stay, then stopped. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes.

Shun felt it when Ikki's hand caught his face, turning him so the older boy could see his face. Shun carefully kept his eyes averted.

"Shun, look at me. Please?" Ikki asked quietly.

Slowly, Shun lifted his gaze to Ikki's. He stared into the boy's blue eyes for a long moment.

Then, Ikki hugged him tightly.

"Why would you think I wouldn't care about you just because I have the others?" Ikki whispered fiercely, tucking Shun's head against his shoulder. "You're my only little brother."

"No, I'm not." Shun couldn't quite help himself from mumbling.

Ikki pulled away, looking confused. "What do you mean?" He asked, holding onto Shun's shoulder with one hand while using his free hand to wipe a few tears from the green-haired boy's face.

Shun hesitated. Taking a deep breath in, he let it out. "If I'm going to tell you that, can you get the others? They need to hear this too."

Ikki eyed him for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "If you're sure."

"I am." Shun said quietly.

"Okay. I'll get the others. You sit down."

As Ikki turned to leave, Shun called out to his the older boy. "Brother?" Ikki paused, glancing back with a surprised look on his face. Shun managed a tiny smile. "Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow. That was a tough chapter to write.
> 
> Please feed me comments. Especially tell me what you did and didn't like.
> 
> See you next chapter!


	18. Burial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Saints put a comrade to rest, and Shun starts to tell his story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow. I didn't expect to write so many chapters so fast. I guess I just have too much free time on my hands.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

Aiolos had suggested that they bury Talus as soon as possible, and no one had the heart to say no after Shun agreed, looking broken and tired as he stood next to Ikki.

There was no formal service, only a brief procession out to the spot under a big oak tree where Seiya and Shiryu had dug out a grave for the Fox Saint. An engraving-courtesy of Hyoga-stated exactly who was buried there.

 _"Fox Talus, Protector of Athena, Beloved Master and Student"_ It read in several different languages.

Aiolos had refused any help in carrying his dead student's body out to the grave, ignoring his limp in favor of the task at hand. Before putting Talus to rest, he had removed the Fox Cloth from around his neck and given it to Shun.

"Talus would have a fit if this went to anyone but you." He had said.

Shun hadn't said anything back.

No one said anything after the grave was filled in, standing in silence until, one by one, they had headed inside. Eventually, only Shun and Ikki were left, and Ikki had tucked his little brother under his arm as the younger boy cried. For once, Ikki didn't tell him not to.

Over an hour later, silence reigned as the Saints, Saori, and Tatsumi sat or stood around the living room.

"Ikki said you had something to tell us?" Hyoga addressed Shun, finally broaching the subject that had been hanging over everyone's heads for the past few minutes.

Shun stared at the floor, but didn't say anything.

"This is it, isn't it?" Ikki said slowly. "This is why you said you wouldn't stay here. This is what you're running from."

Shun glanced up at his brother and nodded.

"Does this have to do with what you said about you not being Ikki's only brother?" Hyoga asked. At Shun's glare, he held up is hands. "My room is just down the hall and you weren't exactly keeping your voice down."

Shun huffed, but sat up straighter, glancing around at the assembled Saints, goddess, and butler.

"Hyoga's right. That's exactly what this is about." He admitted to them.

"So how are you not Ikki's only brother?" Seiya asked.

Shun sighed. "This is something I learned from the Pope-from Gemini Saga-just after I earned my Cloth."

Ikki hissed. "The day you went to see him on your own."

Shun nodded. "According to Sanctuary's sources in Japan, the one hundred orphans the Graude Foundation took in weren't just a bunch of boys with the potential to use Cosmo. Sources report that all one hundred of us were Mitsumasa Kido's own children."

Everyone stared at Shun with wide eyes.

"You're saying... that all of us are brothers?" Seiya whispered.

Shun just nodded again.

"Wait a second. Time out." Hyoga interrupted. "We've already established that Gemini Saga has been lying about Aiolos being a traitor and about Athena being in Sanctuary for sixteen years. How do we know this isn't another of his lies?"

"Hyoga is right. This could just be a trick on Gemini Saga's part, something intended to hurt you." Shiryu added.

Shun scowled. "He wasn't lying. I'm sure of it." He snapped at the Dragon and Cygnus Saints.

"Shun," Aiolos said gently. "Saga has always been a brilliant liar. You have no way to prove that what he said was the truth."

The Canis Minor Saint opened his mouth, looking like he was about to say something, but Aiolos continued before he could. "But there is one person who could tell us the truth. Tatsumi, you were Kido's right hand man. Is what Shun is saying is true?"

Everyone turned to stare at the butler. Tatsumi seemed to hesitate before scoffing harshly. "As if." He said. "That's a load of bull and-"

"Tatsumi." Saori interrupted in an almost eerily calm tone. "The truth, please."

Tatsumi fell silent, staring at the floor for a moment. Then, he spoke. "It's true." He admitted. "I don't know the science behind it, nor the reason, but Master Kido found a way to sire one hundred children, all boys. Then he gathered them all and sent them to be Saints."

Saori closed her eyes, leaning her head against the back of the couch as they all absorbed Tatsumi's words.

"I knew the old man was a rat bastard." Ikki commented. "I didn't realize it was that bad though."

"Ikki!" Aiolos scolded sharply, only to be met by a glare. The brunette sighed. "What about the rest of the Kido orphans?" He asked Shun.

The green-haired boy bit his lip, then spoke slowly. "Of the original one hundred orphans, only about sixty are still alive. Most of them are foot soldiers. A total of eleven of us became actual Saints, all Bronze level."

"Who?" Seiya asked curiously.

"Ichi, Geki, Ban, Nachi, and Jabu all became Bronzes. They're the Hydra, Bear, Lionet, Wolf, and Unicorn Saints, if I recall correctly."

"Including the five of us that's only ten though." Hyoga pointed out. "Who's number eleven?"

"Andromeda Akio." Shun responded dully.

Silence fell.

"I... don't remember anyone named Akio." Seiya commented.

"That's to be expected." Aiolos commented. "You all had your own little cliques within the larger group. Akio was one of the older boys. He didn't associate with the rest of you if he could help it."

"Well he's clearly not on our side." Hyoga grumbled. "What do you know about him, Shun?"

Shun frowned unhappily. "They say he's the true Andromeda Saint, the current incarnation of Andromeda Sinon."

"Who's 'they'?" Shiryu asked.

"The Pope, and everyone loyal to him."

"That's most of Sanctuary, isn't it?" Esmeralda asked.

"Sure is." Aiolos sighed. "For all that they're wrong. Again."

"How so?" Seiya

"If Akio really was the Andromeda Saint, he wouldn't have tried to kill Saori. No member of the Vanguard would ever try to kill the true Athena. It's simply not possible."

"Okay, time out." Ikki interrupted Seiya's attempt to ask another question. "This 'Vanguard' keeps coming up. That Cerberus character said the Phoenix Saint was supposed to be the strongest member, but I don't even know what the Vanguard _is._ Someone here want to clue me in?" He glanced around at the other Bronzes, only for all of them to shrug.

"That name came up in a few of the books I read on Death Queen Island, but there weren't any details on it." Esmeralda admitted.

Aiolos sighed. "If the Gold Saints are the ones tasked with the direct protection of Athena herself, then the Vanguard are the ones tasked with leading Athena's forces into battle. It's a collection of five Bronze Saints who reincarnate alongside Athena during each cycle. They are, arguably, the most powerful Bronze Saints, although there's some debate about who is the strongest among them."

"These five, are they...?" Esmeralda started, then trailed off.

"Pegasus, Andromeda, Dragon, Cygnus, and Phoenix." Aiolos nodded.

"Woah." Seiya said. "You mean we've all reincarnated a bunch of times? That's crazy."

"Not if you think about it." Shun piped up. "It makes sense for Athena to choose the most loyal of her Saints to reincarnate alongside her. Theoretically speaking, even before regaining memories of their past lives the members of the Vanguard would be naturally inclined to protect Athena, like when we were little and you fought off that dog attacking Saori. That's why Akio can't be Andromeda. If he was, he would never have attacked her."

"Oooooh." Seiya breathed.

Ikki snorted. "But if that bastard isn't Andromeda, who is?"

There was a moment of contemplative silence.

"And here I thought you would figure it out first, Ikki." Aiolos commented. At the boy's confused look, he lifted one hand... and pointed straight at Shun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. My. God. One more chapter and I'll be done with this arc.
> 
> Please leave a review telling me what you thought of this chapter.
> 
> See you next time.


	19. The Truth III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shun continues to tell his story and reveals an unpleasant secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited! This is one of those chapters I've been imagining writing practically since I started writing this story!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

* * *

"You think Shun is the true Andromeda Saint?" Seiya asked.

"I know he is." Aiolos said with conviction.

"But then how is he wearing the Canis Minor Cloth?" Esmeralda queried. "Historically speaking, the only time a Saint has had multiple guardian constellations was when a Silver or Bronze Saint became a Gold."

"I'm wearing this Cloth, but it doesn't belong to me." Shun answered.

"What do you mean?" Ikki asked warily.

"I mean that I can't control it's power the way the rest of you control your Cloths' power. And the longer I wear the Cloth, the worse it gets. If I'm not careful, I could lose control of the Cloth's power entirely." Shun told them in a grim voice.

"Then why are you still wearing that Cloth?!" Ikki demanded.

"Anything for Athena, remember? Anything."

"Is that the only thing you didn't want to tell us?" Aiolos asked in a gentle tone.

"No. There's one more thing." Shun admitted.

Ikki scowled. "I'm not gonna like this either, am I?"

Shun just shrugged, then turned around and tugged his shirt off.

"What the..." Hyoga trailed off, visibly shocked by what he saw.

A brief glance at Shun's back would show nothing amiss, but then his fellow Saints' attention was caught by his right shoulder blade. There was a marking there, dark purple and looking like some kind of ancient glyph. Around it and spreading out in seemingly every direction were dark purple veins, as though the glyph was infecting Shun's very blood.

"What is that?" Shiryu breathed.

"I don't know." Shun admitted softly. He pulled his shirt back over his head and turned to face them again. "The Pope-Saga-put this on me when I first came to Sanctuary."

"But why?" Ikki asked. "And while we're at it, we found out that Saga payed off the driver that was supposed to take you back to the orphanage to drop you off in the middle of nowhere, but we don't why."

Shun hung his head. "That's..."

* * *

**Ten Years Ago**

Shun leaned his head against the window of the limo as he let himself be lost in thought. As nervous as he was to go back to the orphanage, he was glad he would finally be free of Tatsumi and the other guards. At least at the orphanage he would-hopefully-have a more peaceful life.

"Come one kid, we're here." The driver called.

Shun blinked, realizing the car had stopped at some point while he was lost in thought. "Coming!" He called as he hopped out of the car.

And promptly stopped.

If there was one thing that the kids at the Graude Foundation were not allowed to do, it was go on field trips. Shun had never been outside Tokyo, and therefore had never seen this many trees, or this much greenery. It was beautiful.

Suddenly, Shun's attention was drawn by the sound of a car engine starting up. He spun around and took two steps only to freeze.

The car was gone.

Shun stared in horror. The driver had left him. Left him alone in the middle of nowhere, with no idea where he was and no way to get back to the city. He should have been paying more attention.

"Oh, what's this? Are you lost, little one?"

Shun spun around, seeing a man standing behind him. The man was tall and broad-shouldered, wearing strange golden armor the likes of which Shun had never seen before. He had long, purple-blue hair, and dark, strangely sorrowful looking eyes.

Shun blinked. Once. Twice. He squeezed his hand into a fist hard enough that his nails dug into his palm. _I'm not just seeing things._ He thought.

Slowly, the boy nodded.

"I see." The man said softly. "Perhaps I can help you."

* * *

**Present Day**

"Saga picked you up himself?" Aiolos gasped.

Shun nodded. "He brought me to Sanctuary and offered to let me train as a Saint. When I agreed, he put that glyph on me. He said it was the first part of my training."

"And you just believed him?" Hyoga asked.

Shun made a face. "I was a child. Besides, in my experience, arguing with an adult would only get me in trouble."

Ikki shot a faintly murderous expression at Tatsumi.

"Did Talus know?" Saori asked.

"I was told not to tell anyone."

"Okay," Seiya said slowly, "So what does it do?"

Shun pursed his lips. "At first, it didn't do anything, I even forgot it was there most of the time. Then, when I was twelve, it just started burning one day. It felt like it was draining my Cosmo."

"Draining your Cosmo?" Aiolos echoed.

Shun bobbed his head lightly. "I couldn't train for two days because I was so tired. A week later, Akio showed up at Sanctuary and was proclaimed to be the true Andromeda Saint. Sometimes, when I was around him, I could have sworn I felt traces of my Cosmo coming off him, but I don't know why."

Aiolos stared at nothing for several long moments, the he hissed. "Of course." he muttered.

"Of course what?" Shun asked.

Aiolos looked up at the boy. "That glyph is somehow connected to Akio. He's using it to drain your Cosmo so that anyone who senses his Cosmo senses Andromeda's Cosmo instead."

Everyone stared at the Sagittarius Saint.

"You mean that Saga has been planning that? Why?" Esmeralda breathed.

"He's probably trying to break up the Vanguard." Aiolos said thoughtfully. "Historically speaking, if a member of the Vanguard died before the Holy War took place, they would just reincarnate again, so there's not point in killing any of you, but if one of the Vanguard Cloths went to the _wrong person,_ and the corresponding member of the Vanguard was placed under the protection of a different constellation, it could interfere with legendary Saints' ability to fight together. All the better if the one who got the Vanguard Cloth is loyal to Saga."

"That's a lot of trouble to go to." Hyoga commented dryly.

"Saga probably thinks it's worth it." Aiolos answered. He sighed. "Has Akio been draining your Cosmo lately?"

Shun nodded. "More and more often. It's... why I stayed away from here as much as I could. I didn't want you to find out."

"So what changed your mind?" Seiya asked curiously.

"Master Talus left me a message." Shun explained. "A kind of... last will and testament? I can't really explain it. I guess you could say it gave a different perspective on things."

"A different perspective, huh?" Ikki grinned lightly.

"Yeah." Shun smiled. He winced, reaching up to rub his shoulder above where the glyph was.

"It's bothering you again?" Esmeralda asked, moving to get up.

Shun nodded.

"Let me see. I can't get it off, but I might be able to help with the pain." She offered.

Shun was slow to nod, but he did, and turned to let Esmeralda see his shoulder properly.

"Once Esmeralda is done with your shoulder, you're going to bed." Aiolos ordered. "All of us are. It's been a long day."

Aiolos was right, and nobody had the will to argue with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Feelings? Anything? What did you think?
> 
> See you next time.


	20. Gold Saint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saori has a talk with the Bronze Saints, and Sanctuary finally sends one of its strongest warriors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who boy. We are getting close to the end of this arc. There will be an announcement at the beginning of the next chapter regarding my plans for this fic.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

Saori stared out into the forest outside the villa. It was night time now, and the others had all retired for the night. Saori, however, couldn't settle down enough to sleep, the conversation from earlier in the day echoing in her head.

A part of Saori couldn't quite believe that. Was it really fair that the Saints were expected to do "anything" for their goddess? Was that why Talus had died to save her life when Andromeda Akio tried to kill her? How could the Saints be expected to sacrifice everything for one person?

"Yen for your thoughts?" A voice interrupted Saori's thoughts.

She glanced over to see Seiya and Shiryu standing there, smiling at her. It was Seiya who had spoken.

Saori hesitated. Could she burden the Saints with her thoughts?

"It's okay to be scared." Seiya commented.

Saori blinked, staring at the normally cheerful boy's solemn expression.

"I mean," Seiya said, waving his hands aimlessly, "This is all a lot to take in. Saints and gods and Cosmo and all that."

Shiryu smiled comfortingly. "You don't have to be worried. We've all been training for years to protect you. We won't hesitate, so you have nothing to worry about."

"It doesn't hurt that the Vanguard are the most loyal of Athena's Saints. None of us will betray you." Ikki added as he and Esmeralda stepped out to join them.

"Yeah, yeah. What they said." Seiya added with a goofy grin.

Saori bit her lip, her hands clenching tightly. "That's not it!" She burst out. The young Saints all looked taken aback.

"It's not that I'm scared. I have faith that you'll all protect me. It's just..." Saori trailed off. "Tatsumi told me about Saints that day we were attacked on the bridge, but... Suddenly I'm told that I'm actually the goddess Athena, and that people are trying to kill me, and I don't know how to deal with it. Is this going to be my life from now on? People dying because of me?"

She watched as uncomfortable glances passed between the four teenagers.

"Is it really that simple though?" Shiryu murmured.

"What do you mean?" Saori asked.

"As children, we were all taught to believe in Athena above all else, that we would be expected to fight and die for her no matter what. But loyalty isn't something that can just be taught. It has to be earned. You talk like you don't deserve our loyalty, our willingness to fight for you. But we're not just doing what we were taught do. You _earned_ our loyalty in the past. Even if you haven't awakened as Athena, it's our job to make sure you survive long enough to do so. It's-"

Suddenly, Shiryu went tense, his gaze shifting towards the sky. Behind her, Saori could hear one of the others gasp sharply.

"Something's coming!" The Dragon Saint hissed.

Before Saori had a chance to react, Seiya was lunging towards her with a cry of "Watch out!" He grabbed her and launched them both off the balcony and down to the clearing below.

When they landed, Saori held bridal-style in Seiya's arms, the purple-haired girl gasped as she saw the cloud of dust and debris surrounding the villa.

Ikki and Shiryu landed in front of Seiya and Saori, dropping into fighting stances. Hyoga-who Saori hadn't even realized was there-and Esmeralda, took up stances on either side of the Pegasus Saint.

Seiya let Saori down. "Are you hurt?" He asked. Saori shook her head.

As the dust cloud began to clear, a figure stepped out of it. The man, dressed in gold armor that Saori could only assume was one of the Gold Cloths, made for an imposing figure.

"Aiolia?" Seiya gasped. And then, "You're a Gold Saint?"

If the man in front of them-Aiolia, apparently-was surprised that Seiya recognized him, he didn't show it.

"Where is she?" He demanded.

"Where's who?" Ikki snarked back.

Aiolia's glare turned dark. "I came here with two missions: the first was to retrieve the Cloths of the Silver Saints that you killed. The second was to find the traitor calling herself Athena... and eliminate her!"

Fear curled in Saori's chest.

"Is that so?" Ikki nearly purred. "Then let's just say it's our mission to protect the true Athena!"

As if on some sort of silent signal, both Ikki and Shiryu launched forward at the man at the same time.

The Gold Saint just lifted one hand. There was a burst of Cosmo, and both teens were thrown back and to the ground.

"Shiryu! Ikki!" Seiya yelled in alarm, and rushed to their side, reaching for his Cloth.

"Too slow!" The man declared, and another burst of Cosmo sent the five young Saints flying.

Saori barely had time to blink before the Gold Saint was there, towering over her with a cold glare on his face.

"You are Saori Kido? Where are the missing Cloths?"

Saori flinched back. "I don't know. And besides, I've never claimed to be Athena..."

"Are you begging your life?" The man snapped. He began to lift his right hand, holding it high above his head. "Don't hate me for this, but your very existence spells disaster for Sanctuary. The Pope has ordered for you to die."

Saori turned with a shriek, making to run as the man brought his hand down. She felt the swish of air, felt her hair being severed, and heard a slight grunt from her attacker. Stopping, she turned back to see that Hyoga and Esmeralda were attempting to hold back the Gold Saint. As she watched, he spun, forcing the two Bronze Saints to let go and sending them flying.

Ikki and Shiryu attempted to attack from either side, only for the Gold Saint to use some kind of technique to hit them both. The blond man made to charge Saori again, only for Shun to land in front of her in a defensive stance.

"You need to run!" The Canis Minor Saint ordered.

"But-" Saori protested.

"Just _go!_ " The teen yelled as he darted at the older Saint.

Biting her lip, Saori took off into the trees, survival instincts taking over.

* * *

Shun gritted his teeth, clutching desperately at the hand clamped around his neck like a vice. Without his armor, it was far too easy for the Gold Saint in front him to pin him down.

Behind Aiolia were the rest of the Bronzes, scattered across the scorched ground in various states of injury and consciousness.

Shun closed his eyes as his vision began to grey nauseatingly. He wouldn't last much longer, but with any luck it would be long enough for Saori to get some distance from the villa.

As Shun felt his consciousness slipping, a voice yelled out from behind Aiolia.

"That's enough Aiolia!"

The Leo Gold Saint jerked in shock at the sound of Aiolos's voice behind him. His hand went lose as he whipped around, and Shun slumped to the ground, coughing as he gasped for air.

Lifting his head as he held one hand to his throat, Shun managed to peer around Aiolia enough to see Aiolos, standing determinedly in front of the smoking remains of the back end of the villa.

* * *

Aiolia dropped Talus's student at the sound of his brother's voice.

 _It can't be!_ He thought. _Brother is dead!_

But as he turned, he saw him. Aiolos was older that Aiolia remembered, not surprising considering that he was nearly thirty now, but he almost seemed older than that, his blue eyes tired as he supported himself against what was left of a wooden pillar.

Aiolos straightened up and began to make his way towards Aiolia. The Leo Saint couldn't help but take note of the limp in the older man's gait.

"Aiolia," Aiolos started to say, "You need to listen to me. Things aren't what they seem in Sanctuary. The Pope-"

"Don't come any closer!" Aiolia barked.

Aiolos lifted his hands in a non-threatening gesture, but continued approaching.

"Please, little brother, just listen to me." There was something in Aiolos's eyes, something so earnest.

Baring his teeth in a snarl, Aiolia prepared to use his Lightning Plasma. Aiolia gritted his teeth. Aiolos was a traitor. He had tried to kill Athena and then fled like a coward. This should be easy.

_It wasn't._

"STOP IT!"

Aiolia whipped around at the desperate yell, staring in shock at what he saw. The girl-Saori Kido-stood just outside the tree line, her entire body glowing with pale gold light. It was a sight, a feeling, that Aiolia knew instinctively.

"This Cosmo..." This was the light of Athena.

"Why did you come back?" Aiolia heard the Pegasus Saint yell.

"I didn't have a choice! I just had to!" The young goddess nearly sobbed. "I haven't done anything wrong! There's no reason for me to die, so there's no reason for me to run!" The girl dropped to her knees, shaking her head fiercely. "What is all of this?"

"Miss Saori has awakened as Athena." Aiolia heard one of the young Bronze Saints breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that was one of the hardest chapters to write since... I don't know. Did I get Aiolia's and Aiolos's first meeting right?
> 
> Send me your thoughts.
> 
> See you soon!


	21. Concern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Aiolia's attack on the villa is ugly, but not unsalvageable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last chapter of the Silver Saints arc. After this Justice will be going on hiatus for a bit while I flesh out the Gold Saints arc.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

Aiolia stared at the mess his attack on the villa had made. Roughly a third of the villa was gone, mostly the balcony and the living room. Fortunately, the bedrooms were intact. Saori Kido-Athena-was currently resting in her room, watched over by Tatsumi and the Dragon Saint. The young goddess had passed out after inadvertently forcing Aiolia to stop his attack.

The rest of the Bronzes were gathered at one edge of the clearing. Three of them, Phoenix, Columba, and Pegasus, were fine other than some bruises and scratches. The Cygnus Saint had taken a nasty hit to the head, but it hadn't resulted in a concussion and he was icing it.

Shun was another matter entirely. The Columba Saint was crouched next the green-haired teen, who was sitting against a tree with his head tilted back as the older girl healed the spectacular bruises around his neck.

Aiolia winced as he thought about it. He had almost killed Shun. Would have killed him, if Aiolos hadn't intervened.

Aiolia was dragged out of his self-deprecating thoughts by the sound of footsteps next to him. Aiolos was approaching, a touch cautious as he joined his brother.

"How are you doing?" The Sagittarius Saint asked softly.

Aiolia turned his gaze back to the young Bronzes. The Vanguard, definitely.

"I'm fine." He answered tersely.

Aiolos scoffed. "Don't give me that, little brother. I know that look. You can't blame yourself for this."

"It's my fault!" Aiolia argued. "I tried to kill Athena! I almost did kill Shun!"

"You were acting on orders that you had no way to know were wrong." Aiolos corrected patiently. "If anything, this is Saga's fault."

"Saga?" Aiolia asked. "Brother, Saga died at Shura's hand the same night you... left."

Aiolos shook his head. "No. That wasn't Saga. Saga has been posing as the Pope since before I left Sanctuary with Athena. He's the one who tried to kill Athena in the first place."

Aiolia frowned. That seemed... improbably, honestly, but it would explain the sudden shift in the Pope's personality. Aiolia, little more than a child at the time, had just chalked it up to old age.

"There's more isn't there?" He questioned his brother.

Aiolos sighed, and began to speak. Aiolia listened as the whole story unfolded. Aiolos earning the position as the next Pope. Saga's rage. The attempt on Athena's life and Aiolos's subsequent flight from Sanctuary.

"So that's what happened..." Aiolia murmured. "I'm sorry." He finally managed.

"Don't be." Aiolos sighed. "I could have tried to contact you, to tell you what was going on, but I thought you'd be safer if you really didn't know anything. It wasn't until Talus told me about you that I realized just how much you paid for what I did."

That phrase caught Aiolia's attention, drawing his thoughts back to something that had been bothering him since he was called to the Pope's chambers and assigned this mission.

"Brother," He started. "Talus... I was told Andromeda Akio killed him. Is he really...?"

"He died from his wounds early this morning." Aiolos answered. "Follow me."

Aiolia followed his brother as the older Saint lead the way to a big tree at the edge of the clearing. On the opposite side of the tree from the villa was a patch of fresh turned earth, accompanied buy a carving on a tree.

"Fox Talus, Protector of Athena, Beloved Master and Student" Aiolia felt a smile curl his lips at that.

"Looks like there's someone else who wants to talk to you." Aiolos commented, and Aiolia followed his gaze to see Shun approaching slowly from the clearing.

As he reached them, Aiolos rested a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "I'll let you two have some privacy." With that, he left them.

Silence fell between the two Saints as they stood over Talus's grave. Shun was the one to break it.

"Talus left messages with me." He said. Aiolia turned to look at the younger Saint. "Or maybe not messages. It's more like there's a piece of him in my head. He wants to talk to you."

Aiolia blinked slowly. As far as he knew, Abstracts-psychic fragments of one's mind-were a Lemurian telepathy technique. _Trust Talus to be able to do that without me knowing._ He thought to himself.

"Let me see." He ordered.

Shun nodded. "Sit down."

They both sat down, and Shun reached out, pressing his hand to Aiolia's forehead.

Instantly Aiolia felt a sense of falling, like someone had just thrown him in to a pitch black abyss.

 _"Sorry. I haven't quite perfected this technique yet."_ Shun's voice echoed in his head.

 _"Sloppy. Talus would be ashamed."_ Aiolia huffed.

 _"Shut up. You're almost there."_ Shun retorted.

_"Almost where?"_

Shun didn't answer, and instead Aiolia heard the distinctive chirping of birds. He opened his eyes-when had he closed them?-and found himself in the Colosseum back in Sanctuary. His armor was gone, replaced by his usual brown and tan training gear.

"What the hell?" Aiolia muttered, looking around. He was standing in the middle of the arena area. The seats were empty, all except for one person.

"Took you long enough, little cub." Talus said with a grin. Dressed in his red training clothes, his black hair a wind-ruffled mess, the Fox Saint looked like he was in the middle of a break from training. He jumped to the floor of the arena and stepped up to Aiolia.

"Your student's telepathy is sloppy." Aiolia told Talus, hooking his arms loosely around the man's waist.

Talus just laughed. Cupping the back of Leo Saint's head with one hand, he leaned up a bit to rest his forehead against the Aiolia's.

"We," He said softly, "Have a lot to talk about."

* * *

Seiya frowned as he sat next to Hyoga and Ikki. Aiolos had appeared from behind the tree where Talus was buried a good thirty minutes ago, immediately heading to check on Saori.

The young Pegasus's thoughts were racing. He remembered seeing Aiolia a number of times during his time training to be the Pegasus Saint. The blond man had been a seemingly constant fixture through the years, stopping by to oversee Seiya's training and talk to Marin. He had always had a kind word or a bit of encouragement for Seiya, little things that made the cruel words of his fellow trainees-the ones who didn't approve of people who weren't Greek-seem less important, because Marin clearly respected Aiolia, and the words of someone who Marin respected meant a lot more than those of some mere trainees.

What Seiya couldn't seem to process was that Aiolia was Gold Saint. Seiya had always assumed that he was just another Silver-level trainer like Marin.

_"Aren't you the brat who was trained by Marin? It's funny, I heard that you were looking for your sister, but did you know that Marin has been looking for her brother for years? Quite the coincidence, isn't it?"_

Lizard Misty's words echoed in Seiya's head, as they had many times since his fight with the Silver Saint a solid week ago.

 _Could Marin really be my sister?_ Seiya wondered.

The sound of footsteps drew Seiya's attention from his thoughts to where Shun and Aiolia were approaching.

A small smile graced Shun's face as he moved to join Ikki, leaning against his older brother's shoulder.

Aiolia, on the other hand, looked like he was one wrong word away from breaking down as he looked over. He turned his attention to Seiya.

"We need to talk." He told the younger Saint.

Seiya stood up and followed the Gold Saint out of earshot of the others.

The first thing that burst out of Shun's mouth when Aiolia turned to face him was, "Why didn't you tell me you were a Gold Saint?"

Aiolia sighed. "I'm not supposed to reveal my status as a Gold Saint if I can avoid it."

"But Shun knew!" Seiya protested.

"Talus was a far more open person than Marin has ever been." Aiolia explained. "Shun had all the clues. Speaking of Marin-"

"That Misty guy said Marin might be my sister!" Seiya blurted out before he could stop himself. "Is it true?"

Aiolia's expression softened. "I don't know. Marin has always been a very private person when it comes to her past. You'll have to ask her yourself if you ever get the chance. Just remember that you're a member of the Vanguard. Athena has to come first."

Seiya bit his lip. "I know that." He mumbled.

At that moment Aiolos approached.

"I hate to interrupt," He started gently, looking to Aiolia, "But you've been here for more than an hour. Sanctuary is going to get suspicious."

"I know." Aiolia murmured. "I'll be going then."

* * *

Aiolos watched as Aiolia prepared to return to Sanctuary. It wasn't like there was a lot to prepare, it was just a matter of opening a portal and stepping through, but the Leo Saint seemed to be hesitating.

"I'm going to talk to the other Gold Saints." He told Aiolos and the assembled Bronzes. "See what they know."

"Be careful." Aiolos warned. "You're risking a lot by doing this. If any of the others don't agree you, they might report you to Saga."

"I will be." Aiolia promised. He turned to step into the portal, only for Shun to call out to him.

Aiolia turned to stare at the Canis Minor Saint as he stepped closer. "What is it?" He asked.

"Take these." Shun said, holding out a handful of Cloth tags. "I've been collecting them."

"Those belonged to the Silver Saints that have come after you." Aiolia breathed, taking them. Then he blinked, and gave Shun an unreadable look. Whatever he saw in the teen's eyes must have satisfied him, because he nodded and turned back to the portal.

A moment later he was gone.

"Looks like we'll be going to Sanctuary sooner rather than later." Ikki commented.

Aiolos shook his head. "That's up to Athena. We'll talk tomorrow. For now there's nothing we can do."

No one had an answer to the older Saint's words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? I feel like this chapter was a little... rough?
> 
> See you soon!


	22. Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to go to Sanctuary. Aiolos has some words for Shun, and Aiolia goes to make his report.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow. Four months since my last post. I'm super sorry about that. I was out of ideas, and then kind of lost interest in Saint Seiya for a while, but now I'm back. There are more chapters of Infinite Possibilities up, and I'm hoping to start getting chapters of Justice out on a more regular basis after this.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

* * *

_"I've told you before: we Saints take strength from each other just as much as we do from our faith in Athena. You need people you can trust, Shun. People who will let you stand on your own, but still support you when you need it."_

_For someone who claims to rely mostly on his wits and gut instinct,_ Shun thought to himself, _Master Talus could be awfully insightful when he wanted to._

"Shun!" Aiolos's voice drew Shun's attention.

The Canis Minor Saint looked down from his perch in a tree a little ways into the forest surrounding the Kido villa to see the Sagittarius Saint standing beneath him, head tipped back to stare at him.

After the scare of the previous night's events, Saori had slept all night. When she woke up, the entire group had congregated in what remained of the living room.

Saori had been quite firm in her determination to go to Sanctuary.

"I still don't understand all this, not entirely at least, but if I go to Sanctuary I should be able to get answers, right?" She'd told them.

Tatsumi had a rather strong opinion on that front, but Saori had, in a rare show of mental strength, insisted. None of the Saints-including Aiolos-had argued, in spite of knowing how risky that course of action was.

"We swore we'd protect Athena, and we're not gonna let some Gold Saints stop us!" Seiya had said.

It was an accurate, if somewhat simple, statement.

Aiolos calling his name again pulled Shun from his thoughts, and he slid off the branch he was sitting on, landing lightly on the ground and giving the older Saint a curious look.

"It's time to go." Aiolos told him. "Everyone else is already waiting."

Shun nodded and went to step past him, only for Aiolos's hand to fall on his shoulder. Shun stopped and turned to the older man.

"What is it?" He asked.

Aiolos stared at Shun for a long moment, an unreadable expression on his face. "When we get to Sanctuary, there's a good chance we'll run into Akio again."

Shun scowled at the mention of his master's murderer. "What about him?" His voice was, perhaps, harsher than strictly necessary.

"I know you're upset about Talus." Aiolos said patiently. "I know you're angry at Akio for killing him, but I need you to promise that you'll keep your head. I won't stop you from fighting him if you're that determined, but the real reason we're going to Sanctuary is Saori. It's our job to protect her, and you can't do that if you're focused on revenge."

Shun turned his head away from Aiolos, scowling at the dirt beneath his feet. He really hated that Aiolos had a point. Finally, he inhaled slowly. "I'm not going to forget what we're going to Sanctuary to do. Protecting Saori comes first. But if Akio shows up, he'll be targeting Saori too. And if fighting him means protecting her, well... You can't blame me for taking advantage."

When he lifted his eyes, Aiolos's mouth was quirked up in something resembling a smile. "Fair enough."

With that said, they both turned and headed back to the villa.

The others were already waiting. Tatsumi stood to one side, looking rather unhappy with the current situation, but fortunately not saying anything.

The other five Bronzes and Saori were gathered in the center of the clearing.

Saori's hair was cropped short, Tatsumi having trimmed it all to match after Aiolia took half of it off, and she had traded her school uniform for a slightly more practical outfit consisting of shorts over leggings, a t-shirt under a sleeveless vest, and a pair of hiking boots. She looked determined, if more than a little nervous.

The other five Bronze Saints were already wearing their Cloths.

Ikki glanced up as Aiolos and Shun approached. He smiled a little bit when his eyes met Shun's, and the younger teen smiled back.

"Are you ready?" Aiolos asked, gaze fixed on Saori.

"I am." She answered.

Aiolos nodded and turned, holding one hand out. Shun felt the Sagittarius Saint's Cosmo start to burn, and a glowing portal opened up.

Silently, the seven Saints and their goddess stepped through the portal, starting their journey to Sanctuary.

* * *

_"I'm sorry. I should have contacted you after I found Aiolos in Japan."_

_"Don't 'It's fine' me, little cub. I know how much you hate it when people keep secrets from you. You're allowed to be angry, you know."_

_"Please don't blame Aiolos and the others for my death. I knew defying Sanctuary could get me killed. I did it anyway."_

Aiolia rolled his shoulders as he reached the top of the stairs above the House of Pisces. It was early evening in Sanctuary, the sun bathing the massive structures of the Twelve Houses in striking golden light. On a normal day Aiolia would have stopped to admire the view from the top of the Houses, but today wasn't a normal day.

Talus was dead.

Aiolos wasn't a traitor.

Saga was posing as the Pope.

Athena hadn't been in Sanctuary for sixteen years.

And as much as Aiolia wanted to know why, as much as he wanted to know what had possessed Saga to murder Master Shion and then attempt to kill Athena on top of that, he couldn't even ask.

Right now, Aiolia had to make his report and then track down all the Gold Saints who weren't in their Houses and talk to them about what he had learned from his brother.

Luckily, Aiolia had met Mu when he went to pass through the House of Aries-quite a surprise, considering that the Lemurian hadn't been seen in Sanctuary almost since Aiolos was forced to flee-and the Aries Saint had seemed quite inclined to believe his fellow Gold's words.

Aldebaran had seemed doubtful, but hadn't outright refuted Aiolia. The Taurus Saint would want proof, would want to see Saori with his own eyes, but wouldn't argue once he had.

The only other Gold who was in his House when Aiolia was on his way up was Shaka, and when Aiolia told the Virgo Saint what he'd learned, the blonde had given him a look-with his _eyes closed_ -that made Aiolia feel a little like an ignorant child again. Which...

 _Trust Shaka to know exactly what's going on and do absolutely nothing about it._ Aiolia thought to himself irritably.

The Leo Saint shook his head, dismissing the thought, and stepped through the archway towards the double doors leading into the Pope's chambers. Talus's final words echoed in his head.

_"Just remember, I love you. Take care of yourself, my lion."_

It was time to make his report.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me, like, six hours to write this, between having trouble getting the first version out, then cutting that down to the important part, and then writing the rest to fill out the chapter. Then I waited another day to boot. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> See you next time.


	23. Sanctuary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiolos, Saori, and the Bronzes arrive in Sanctuary, and meet their first opponent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's another chapter for you all. We're coming into the final arc of Justice, but I expect it will still be a while before it's over. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

As the glow of the portal receded, Aiolos looked around. More than fifteen years since he had been in Sanctuary, and it honestly looked like nothing had changed at all.

Around the Sagittarius Saint, the Bronze Saints and Saori were busy taking in their surroundings, varying looks of awe and surprise on their faces. To be fair to the teenagers, even at the bottom of the Twelve Houses the view over the rest of Sanctuary was quite impressive.

To Aiolos's left, Saori let out a quiet gasp. "So this is Sanctuary..." She breathed in wonder.

"It's definitely impressive." Shiryu conceded, having dropped the defensive stance he'd adopted upon clearing the portal.

Aiolos felt his mouth twitch up. He'd had a similar reaction his first time coming here.

"We need get moving." He said, shaking away the sense of nostalgia that had briefly invaded his mind. "The sooner we get to the top, the better." Even as he spoke, something niggled at the back of his mind. It felt like something-or someone-was watching them.

One by one, the others shook away their surprise and nodded. Even Saori was quick to refocus on the task ahead of them.

The young goddess smiled, looking remarkably confident in spite of her reaction of a few moments ago. "Let's go then." She said brightly.

As they turned towards the stairs that lead up to the House of Aries, Aiolos caught sight of the thing that had been bothering him.

"Watch out!" He yelled as the Silver Saint that had been hiding near the bottom of the stairs drew his fist back.

"Phantom Arrow!" The man yelled, and a barrage of arrows flew at the assembled Saints.

Aiolos instinctively threw himself for Saori, aiming to shield her from the rain of arrows. He didn't quite reach her in time, and as the first few arrows reached the group, he brought his arms up to shield his face, only to start as the arrows seemed to disappear just as they made contact with him.

 _They're not real!_ He realized.

Before he could warn the others, another voice spoke up. "These aren't real arrows." Shiryu called. "They're just illusions!"

"They are!" Seiya yelled triumphantly. "You're done for." He told the Silver Saint as he drew his fist back.

"Pegasus Meteor Fist!" The Pegasus Saint shouted, and the Saint-Sagitta, if the arrows were anything to go by-was thrown back into the stairs with enough force to partially shatter his Cloth.

Ikki stalked up to the downed Saint. "You'd think someone a little stronger would be sent to try to kill us at the bottom of the Houses." He sneered.

The Silver Saint let out a wheezing laugh. "I wasn't sent to kill you. This is just a present from the Pope." He told them.

With a dawning sense of horror, Aiolos turned to Saori as the young teenager let out a soft, pained sound.

"Saori!" He yelled in alarm as he caught sight of the arrow in her chest. He darted to her side, catching his goddess as she stumbled.

 _Stupid!_ He thought. _Never let your guard down so easily._

Esmeralda was at their side in a flash. "Let me see." She instructed, reaching out. Before she could touch the arrow, it dissipated into thin air.

Aiolos frowned. That was bizarre. "Are you okay?" He asked Saori.

The purple-haired girl shook her head as she gently pulled out of his grip. "It stings a bit, but I'm fine." She said with a reassuring smile.

Aiolos didn't argue, but decided to keep an eye the girl, just in case.

"If Miss Saori is okay, we should probably book it." Hyoga spoke up. "Who knows if the Pope has sent anyone else to get in our way."

Aiolos nodded and stood up, Saori and Esmeralda following suit.

"Keep your guard up." He ordered in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "We can't risk getting caught off-guard like that again."

They took off again and as they walked past the Sagitta Saint, Aiolos glanced down at him. The Silver Saint was out cold-or possibly dead, considering how much power Seiya had put behind his attack-and likely wouldn't be a problem. Not that it made Aiolos feel better.

 _What did he mean by "a present from the Pope"? What could Saga possibly be planning?_ For once, Aiolos really regretted not knowing more about the abilities of the Silver Saints.

As they neared the top of the stairs leading to the House of Aries, Shun snarled quietly.

"Not you again." His growl was nearly drowned out by the rattle of chains, and Aiolos turned in time to see Shun slip in front of Saori, catching the chain aimed for her chest and throwing it to the side.

Akio smirked as he stepped out from behind a nearby outcropping of rock. "What a surprise." He commented nastily. "I didn't expect you to catch on so quick, since you completely missed me last time."

Shun tensed at the subtle reminder of their first encounter with the Andromeda Saint, before abruptly relaxing his stance. "The rest of you go one without me." He instructed in a calm tone, not looking back. "I'll deal with this one."

"I'll stay too." Ikki spoke up quickly. "Two on one is better odds."

"No." Shun's voice was firm.

"But Shun-" The Phoenix Saint started to protest.

"Protecting Saori is our first priority. There's no reason to waste more than one person on a fake Saint."

Ikki scowled in displeasure, but ultimately gave in. "Catch up with us when you're done." He told his younger brother.

"I will." Shun answered. "Now go!"

Without another word, the remaining Saints made their way past Shun towards the entrance of the House of Aries.

Behind them Aiolos could hear Akio's snarl of rage, and the rattle of his chains as he no doubt attempted to attack the retreating Saints, but Shun was faster and the attack never reached them.

The Sagittarius Saint didn't like it, but this would probably be the nature of the entire journey up the Twelve Houses. They didn't have time to all stop and fight every single Gold Saint on the way up. Letting out a small sigh, Aiolos opened his eyes.

There was no time to dwell, and nowhere to go but forward.

* * *

"I didn't know the Aries Saint liked shiny things so much." Shiryu's quiet musing had Aiolos biting back a chuckle as they all made their way slowly through the House of Aries.

The crystalline walls and pillars were certainly eye-catching, but Aiolos knew-as Master Shion had once told him-that the extravagant appearance of the House was a defense in its own right.

 _"No one takes someone who likes that much decoration seriously."_ The aging Pope had told him. Speaking of which...

"Don't take this lightly." He warned the Dragon Saint. "If you let yourself get distracted you could be taken out in the blink of an eye."

"I know that!" Shiryu protested.

"This is weird though." Hyoga commented.

Seiya frowned. "What is?" He asked.

"The fact that we're almost through the House of Aries and we have yet to run into the actual _Aries Saint._ " The blond pointed out. "Shouldn't he have, I don't know, tried to stop us already?"

"The Aries Saint stopped the Cancer Saint from attacking Shiryu's master and offered to stay in Lushan to keep an eye on him, didn't he?" Saori pointed out softly. "Maybe he stayed in Lushan instead of coming to Sanctuary to stop us?"

"Maybe?" Shiryu said thoughtfully. "It would be fortunate for us, but there's no guarantee."

Aiolos nodded. "Shiryu is right. If Mu isn't here, good, but be prepared to have to face him if he is. We can't count on luck to get us through this."

"Yeah," Ikki scoffed, "We haven't exactly fallen on the nice end of the luck spectrum recently."

"I get it, I get it." Seiya muttered. "Keep our eyes open and don't get distracted."

Moments later, they stepped out of the House of Aries into the open air and started up the next set of steps.

* * *

The Saints slowed down to a walk for the last few steps leading up to the House of Taurus.

"This is it." Aiolos said with a slow breath. He glanced around. "Everyone ready?"

The Bronze Saints all nodded, Saori bobbing her head lightly in agreement.

Aiolos hesitated and pursed his lips as he looked over the entrance to the second House. Something was bothering him.

Unlike the Cloths worn by the Saints, the Twelve Houses of the Zodiac were not alive. However, the nature of their construction-the use of Stardust Sand in both the foundations and the main body of each House-meant that each of the Houses had, over the centuries since Sanctuary was built, absorbed small amounts of Cosmo from their many guardians. As a result, every House had its own aura of sorts, like a faint imprint of leftover Cosmo.

Each House's aura was unique, and tended to be indicative of the personality traits common to its respective guardians, from the welcoming House of Aries to the unyielding House of Capricorn. Additionally, the Houses tended to give off stronger vibes when the Gold Saint who guarded it was inside. Over the centuries it had become common practice for Gold Saints to artificially enhance that aura with their own Cosmo in order discourage would-be invaders from entering the Houses.

Aiolos thought back to the House of Aries. Aries had always had one of the quieter auras, consistent with the generally mild personalities of its Lemurian guardians, and on their way through he had barely picked up on it at all, which he would have if the Aries Saint was present. Mu really hadn't been there. He should have realized earlier.

The House of Taurus, in direct contrast, had one of the more noticeable auras. It was big and kind of overwhelming, but not unfriendly. And yet it was different this time.

Aiolos winced as he watched the others draw back slightly. Clearly even they were picking up on the fact that something was off. The impression Taurus was giving off was more than overwhelming. It was... almost oppressive. And yet it didn't feel dangerous.

 _It's deliberate._ Aiolos realized. _He's putting on a show. Aldebaran, what are you up to?_

Aiolos shook away his momentary hesitation, keeping a bit of his attention behind them so that no one could sneak up on them as they passed into the House of Taurus.

It didn't take long to pass through the entrance hall and into the main chamber of the second House, at which point the Saints came face-to-face with their first opponent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one was actually quite fun to write. I almost ended it a lot earlier, but decided I that it would turn out better if I covered all this in one chapter.
> 
> See you again soon!


	24. The Golden Bull

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second House, the confrontation within, and an unexpected guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already had a basic plan for this chapter a while ago, I just hate writing my chapters out of order so it took me a while to get to it. But I'm posting it now.
> 
> (Finally).
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

* * *

"So you're the Saints trying to pass through the Twelve Houses. You may have met no opposition in the House of Aries, but I can assure you that the same will not be true here." Said the man standing in the middle of the main hall.

"You're the Taurus Saint?" Seiya asked, eyeing the man in front of them with no small amount of curiosity in his gaze.

The massive man grinned widely. "Indeed. I, Taurus Aldebaran, will not be letting you past this House."

Aiolos stepped forward. _If I can stop this..._ He thought to himself.

"Aldebaran, listen to me," He started, "I know you've been told differently, but Athena is with us. The Pope isn't-"

But Aldebaran cut him off. "Aiolia has already spoken to me, but that changes nothing. You're not getting through this House!"

The Sagittarius Saint gritted his teeth. Before he could try again, he felt a subtle nudge against his mind, a sign of someone wanting to talk to him telepathically. Silently, he let them in.

 _"Aldebaran?"_ He asked cautiously. _"What are you up to? Please, be reasonable. We need to pass through this House."_

 _"I know."_ Aldebaran's voice echoed in his head. _"But if these Bronzes don't get a taste of what a real Gold Saint is like now, they'll never be able to get past the real battles later on."_

Aiolos gritted his teeth. Much as he was loath to admit it, the Taurus Saint was right. The younger Saints needed to know what they were going to be up against, and better to find out sooner rather than later.

Aiolos stepped back, shooting the Bronze Saints a meaningful look.

"So you're really not going to let us past that easily..." Seiya mused. "Leave this one to me!" With that, his battle mask snapped into place and he charged his "opponent".

"You're a fool, brat!" Aldebaran declared as he adopted a deceptively casual stance with his arms crossed over his chest. Aiolos winced. Aldebaran had been right a moment ago, but that didn't change Aiolos's desire to warn Seiya about the offensive and defensive nature of that stance.

"We'll see about that." Seiya yelled back. "Pegasus Meteor Fist!"

Aldebaran, in typical Taurus Saint form, didn't even appear to move as he threw out his own attack.

"Great Horn!"

The two attacks collided with each other, but Seiya's Meteor Fist was overpowered almost instantly, and the Pegasus Saint was thrown off to the side and into a pillar.

Aldebaran scoffed. "Is that all you Bronze Saints have got?" He demanded. "You haven't even awakened to the Seventh Sense and you want to defeat Athena's Gold Saints? You're in over your heads."

Aiolos closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. It was true. Without the Seventh Sense, the younger Saints had very little chance of beating their Gold Saint adversaries. Not bringing up the Seventh Sense to them before they had left for Sanctuary was a huge oversight on his part, and one that he'd need to rectify if they had even a moment.

"So who's next?" Aldebaran asked, directing his attention to the rest of the Bronze Saints.

Without hesitating, Esmeralda and Ikki sprang forward, circling around to flank the Taurus Saint from either side.

"Phoenix Soaring Wings!" Ikki cried.

"Columba Piercing Wind!"

The two attacks sped for Aldebaran from either side. Instead of countering either attack, however, the Taurus Saint simply caught them, straining only slightly as he held both at bay. With just a faint grunt of effort, the massive man dissipated the two attacks, and the sheer force of the action threw both Bronzes back and into the walls on either side of Aldebaran.

Even as Aldebaran recovered from deflecting the Phoenix and Columba Saint's attacks, Shiryu and Hyoga were charging for him, clearly hoping to catch the older Saint off-guard and take him out that way.

Aiolos stepped in front of Saori, pushing her back a bit with one arm. Logically, he knew she wasn't in any danger, but it couldn't hurt to be careful.

Unfortunately for the Shiryu and Hyoga, Aldebaran was just as prepared for them as he had been for their three comrades. The Taurus Saint caught their fists as they reached him. There was a momentary struggle as the two Bronze Saints tried to overcome their opponent's greater strength, but it only lasted a few seconds before Aldebaran took a hold of the younger Saints' fists and bodily threw them back the way they had come, sending them hurtling into the walls on either side of the entrance to the main hall.

"Is that really all you've got?" He sneered at them. "You don't have a chance against us Gold Saints with that level of power and resolve."

A quiet hiss of pain drew all attention to Seiya.

"Who said that's all we've got?" The brunette grunted as he struggled to his feet. "We're not going to give up just because you're a little stronger than us!"

Shiryu struggled to push himself up off the cracked floor. "You may have your power as a Gold Saint, you may have the Seventh Sense, but we have something far more important that any power you could ever wield!"

"We..." Esmeralda panted. "...have our belief in Athena." She lifted her head to fix her gaze on the Gold Saint standing before them. "As long as we believe in Athena, believe in each other, we can't lose!"

"Is that so?" Aldebaran looked between the five Bronze Saints, then turned to stare at Aiolos, and at Saori behind him. "In that case..." He growled.

"That's enough, Aldebaran." A level voice interrupted the Taurus Saint, echoing lightly around the hall.

Aiolos was on alert immediately, even as some instinct told him that he'd heard the voice before. He glanced around, trying to find the source of the voice, but someone else found it first.

"Ikki, behind you!" Esmeralda yelled, uselessly reaching one hand out.

Ikki whipped around, jerking back and away from the figure that seemed to melt out of the shadows behind him, but it proved pointless.

The Phoenix Cloth shattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And somehow there was no end note originally, so I added one. Hope you enjoyed it, tell me what you think!


	25. The Cloth Repairer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief rest for Aiolos and his young companions, and a talk between comrades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. This chapter took a lot of work. I wrote a whole portion of it, then had to delete it because it didn't really fit, and getting it up to full length from there was a bit of a chore. But! I did it! So, enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

* * *

"Was that strictly necessary?" Aiolos asked in an exasperated tone, watching Mu work on repairing the Columba Cloth.

The scare of a short while ago, of Mu destroying Ikki's Cloth so that it would repair itself, was still raw. Aiolos, for all he understood Mu's decision, was more than a little put out by the younger Saint's complete apathy towards his feelings on the matter.

The Aries Saint gave Aiolos an amused look, his mouth pulling up into the same faint smile that Aiolos remembered as being characteristic of the young Lemurian.

"Considering that it was the fastest way to achieve the desired effect, I would say yes. Although I suppose that you have a different perspective on the matter." The younger man answered mildly.

Aiolos shook his head. "I'm not sure 'different perspective' covers it." He mumbled.

"I think what Mu is trying to say is that he's sorry, but it was faster to do what he did." Aldebaran said, chuckling quietly.

"I won't apologize for taking the path of least resistance." Mu responded. With a sigh, he set down his tools and turned to beckon Esmeralda over. Once he had returned the Columba Saint's Cloth, he turned back to Aiolos, and his expression turned grave.

Aiolos stiffened. "What's wrong?" He asked, already getting the feeling that he wasn't going to like whatever had Mu looking so serious.

"It's about Aiolia." Mu told him. He turned his attention to start on the Cygnus Cloth, speaking in between swings of his hammer. "When he came back to Sanctuary yesterday, Aiolia spoke to me about the situation with Athena before going to give his report to Saga. This morning there was an assembly of Sanctuary's forces during which Saga made an official announcement about the 'traitor' Saori Kido. When I saw him, Aiolia was acting strange."

"Strange how?" Aiolos demanded. This didn't bode well. If Aiolia was acting strange, it couldn't mean anything good.

Mu paused, as though thinking about his words carefully. "He seemed... I'm not sure how to describe it."

"Distant?" Aldebaran suggested.

"Yes." Mu said. "Aiolia didn't say a word to anyone when he arrived for the announcement, and he left right after. I've tried to contact him telepathically, but I can't reach him. Instead, all I'm picking up on is something very dark. Something ominous."

Aiolos furrowed his brow. That didn't bode well. He could only think of one possible reason for Mu to sense something off about Aiolia, and it was that something had happened when Aiolia had gone to give Saga his report. Aiolia had always been rather hotheaded, prone to acting before thinking. It was entirely possible that the Leo Saint had said something that provoked Saga into doing something extreme.

"I suppose," Aiolos said slowly, "That I'll have to wait until we get to the House of Leo to find out."

"Speaking of getting to the House of Leo," Aldebaran spoke up, "How are you going to handle the stairs with that limp of yours, Aiolos?"

The Sagittarius Saint winced. "So you noticed?"

"You hide it well," Aldebaran answered, "But it still looks bad."

Aiolos sighed. Years of living with the results of the injuries he received at Shura's hand had made him an expert at disguising the limp, and he hadn't had that many problems with it over the years. That being said, he had spent the last sixteen years in Japan, where he didn't have to climb thousands of steps in a short time span.

"I won't lie, it does hurt." He admitted. "All the stairs are doing a number on me, so I've been using my Cosmo to deal with the pain. It's worked well enough so far."

Mu gave him an unreadable glance. "Maybe, but that will slow you down. We Gold Saints move at lightspeed. If you have to fight someone yourself, even being a fraction of a second slower could be deadly."

Leaning his head back against the pillar behind him, Aiolos gave a slight nod of his head. "I know," He said slowly, "And I'm prepared to deal with the risk if it comes to that."

Neither of the younger Golds looked happy at hearing Aiolos say that, but neither did they have a good response.

Silence fell between the three Saints as Mu continued working on Hyoga's Cloth. Just as the Cloth Repairer was about to finish, there was a commotion from where the five Bronze Saints and Saori were resting.

"Saori!" Seiya's cry drew Aiolos's attention.

He turned in time to see the Pegasus Saint catch the young goddess as she slumped to the ground. He raced to her side.

"What's wrong?" He demanded.

Saori winced, and shook her head. "I don't know." She admitted. "I just started to feel weak all of a sudden."

Aiolos frowned, wondering what could have done that. As he looked his goddess over, he saw a hint of purple on her neck. Reaching out, he pulled the collar of her vest down. What he saw made his blood run cold.

"That looks like Shun's glyph." Ikki breathed as he peaked over Aiolos's shoulder.

"Which is probably because it's the same." Aiolos answered the Phoenix Saint grimly. "Or at least similar. It's draining her Cosmo."

"That's not good." Mu said as he joined them. "If Saga is draining Lady Athena's Cosmo, it's very likely that he's planning to do something with it. Your Cloth is done." He finished, directing the last bit to Hyoga.

Standing up with Seiya's help, Saori gave her head a small shake. "We need to move quickly then."

"Yes," Aiolos agreed, "But I don't think you can keep up like this. We'll clear a path, you will follow behind with Aldebaran and Mu. Does that work for you?"

Aldebaran and Saori nodded in agreement, but Mu shook his head.

"I believe you left one of your number at the entrance to the House of Aries." He pointed out.

"Yeah, Shun's taking a long time." Hyoga admitted.

Mu nod. "In that case, I will go back to check on your friend. The rest of you can go on ahead to the House of Gemini."

"Do it." Aiolos agreed. "Let's move." He said to the Bronzes, and they headed for the exit of the House of Taurus.

* * *

**Entrance to the House of Aries**

"You do realize that you'll never beat me if all you do is dodge, right?" Akio sneered.

Shun glared at his opponent. Akio was right. They'd been playing this game of cat and mouse for some time now, as Akio attempted to catch Shun, and Shun did his very best impression of his guardian constellation, occasionally throwing out an attack of his own to give himself a bit of breathing room.

"Although I honestly don't know why you're putting this much effort into keeping away from me." Akio added nastily. "You can't keep it up forever, and there's no way you'll beat me as long as I'm draining your Cosmo. You'd be better off just giving up and letting me kill you."

For the second time in less than a minute, Akio was right. Well, sort of...

Shun grinned behind his mask. "You say that like you can actually kill me."

"What?" Akio breathed.

Shun straightened up from his half-crouch. "You're right that I probably can't beat you while you're draining my Cosmo, but for that same reason, you can't kill me. You see, if I die, you lose the source of Cosmo that lets you wield the Andromeda Cloth. And then where will you be? You certainly won't be the 'true Andromeda Saint' anymore, and then you won't be of any use to the Pope."

"Fine then," Akio spat back, "I won't kill you! I'll catch you and lock you away somewhere you'll never be able to escape from."

"You can try, you sorry excuse for a Saint!" Shun shot back.

* * *

_"Anger is a weapon only to one's opponent."_

* * *

Akio snarled in rage, and Shun was suddenly very, very grateful that he'd actually listened to Aiolos before they left for Sanctuary. The older man's words had brought to mind old lessons Master Talus had taught him, ones the Fox Saint had, himself, learned from the Sagittarius Saint many years ago.

Shun flipped over backwards to avoid another attempt from Akio to hit him, jumping high into the air to land atop a large boulder, and stared down at the furious Andromeda Saint.

 _There has to be a way to beat him._ He thought. _But every time I get close enough to attack, the chains' defensive capabilities kick in and I can't get a good hit in on him! Am I going to have to find a weakness in his attack pattern?_

It was a stretch, and Shun knew it. The Nebula Chains were one of the few weapons allowed to the Saints of Athena, and they were appropriately strong, designed to function as both an unbreakable defense and a formidable offense.

"Aren't you getting a little cocky, standing still like that?" Akio spat.

 _Make him angry._ Shun told himself.

He scoffed. "No matter how many times I stand still, you'll never be able to hit me. Not with clumsy attacks like that. Gomeisa Flare!" Lifting one hand, he swept it in an arc, summoning a swarm of balls of light. None of the attacks hit, but they visibly irritated his redheaded opponent.

The next attack was wilder, less controlled than the ones before it, and Shun dodged it with ease. That was when he realized it.

"You know, it's said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." Shun commented as he stopped dodging and faced Akio head on.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The other teenager demanded.

"It means," Shun said, "That this battle will never end if we keep going the way we have been. It means... that I'm done running away from you."

Throwing his head back Akio laughed, a loud, harsh sound. "I see you've finally come to your senses. All the better for me." With that, he drew his arm back and flicked one of his chains at Shun.

The Canis Minor Saint shifted one foot back, widening his stance for stability, and lifted one hand. When the chain was inches from his chest, he caught it, wrapping it around his wrist several times.

"Oh now I _know_ you've gone crazy." Akio scoffed. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you were caught in the Nebula Chains?"

"I do." Shun answered. "But I'm willing to take that risk."

"Your loss." Was Akio's response. He gripped the chains and gave a sharp tug.

Nothing happened.

"What the...?" Akio's words trailed off as he stared at Shun, who stood completely unharmed before him. "This shouldn't be possible! The Nebula Chains always react when an enemy touches them." Frustration colored the Andromeda Saint's words.

Shun was no less surprised. He hadn't expected the chains to do nothing.

"Is it really so surprising?" A voice asked softly. "You made a mistake, attacking this boy the way you did, Saint of Andromeda."

Shun turned, and started at what he saw. The Cloth was unmistakable.

Before them, standing in the entrance to the House of Aries, was its guardian Saint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And after removing an entire section and then accidently switching tenses multiple times... I'm done! Yay!
> 
> (Sorry, but you'll have to wait a bit to find out what happens after this.)
> 
> Look forward to the next chapter!


	26. Another Dimension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the battle at the House of Gemini Aiolos gains an advantage, and the Saints lose of of their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I'm getting another chapter out here. I hope you're still enjoying this story, there's still a lot to go!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

"Is anyone else seeing what I'm seeing?" Hyoga asked as the group of Saints reached the top of the last flight of stairs leading to the third House.

"Yeah. I think we are." Ikki drawled as he stared at what lay in front of them.

Before them stood the House of Gemini, or rather, the _Houses_ of Gemini. A few feet past the top of the stairs, the path split into two, leading up to a pair of identical buildings that stood like ominous guardians, blocking the way for the Saints.

"What is this?" Esmeralda asked, looking thoroughly confused.

Aiolos groaned internally. "It's Saga." He explained. "This is one of the defenses of the House of Gemini. First, you have to figure out which of these is the real one, or split up and go through both at the same time. Then you have to get through the maze that leads to the other side. It's theoretically impossible."

"Alright." Ikki said slowly. "So how do we figure out which one is the real House?"

Aiolos didn't answer. Instead, he stepped forward, ignoring the younger Saints' confused looks.

"Saga!" He yelled. "I know you can hear me. You know your mind games won't work on me. They never have. If you want to waste our time, find a better way!"

At first nothing happened, but then the sight of the two Houses in front of them shifted, and a moment later there was only one.

"Hey look," Hyoga deadpanned, "There's only one now."

Aiolos let out a small, relieved breath. He hadn't been sure that would work. "There's no time to waste. Let's go."

As one, they stepped forward and entered the third House.

* * *

Esmeralda glanced around as she followed Aiolos and her fellow Bronze Saints into the House of Gemini. A shiver ran up her spine as she took in the empty hallway. Their surroundings were cloaked in partial shadow, and she had the unnerving feeling that she was being watched from every direction. She was so busy looking around that she nearly bumped into Hyoga when he stopped.

"This is new." Shiryu commented from the front of the group.

Esmeralda peaked around Hyoga and blinked in surprise at what she saw. Ahead of them the hallway of the House of Gemini extended far into the distance, almost looking endless. But the truly unnerving part was the floor, or rather, the lack thereof.

Where there should have been a long path of stone, there was only a pit of darkness. Far ahead, Esmeralda thought she could see a tiny pinprick of light that might be an exit, but she couldn't be sure.

Aiolos crouched down slowly, reaching out towards the place where the floor ended and the darkness began. "It looks like there really is no floor." He said.

"So how do we get across?" Hyoga asked.

"I don't think that we can." Aiolos answered.

Esmeralda decided to interject. "I can try." She offered. "I might be able to fly across and see what's on the other side."

The others all stepped back, giving Esmeralda some space. She silently commanded her wings to spread behind her, and took off.

The second Esmeralda's feet left the edge of the floor, everything around her faded away.

It was dark. Pitch black, even. Behind her Esmeralda could see the others, and ahead of her was the spot of light that seemed to be the exit, but that was it.

"You're a fool, coming into my domain on your own like this." A voice spoke, echoing from all directions. "Another Dimension!"

All around Esmeralda, the darkness faded. Grid-like patterns formed around her. Here and there, she could see what looked like planets, stars, and, even more strange, stray pillars and bits of rubble just floating around.

Esmeralda bit back a shriek as she felt herself falling. She willed her wings to move faster, fast enough that she wouldn't be pulled into this dimension from which she was sure there was no return.

Laughter echoed from the shadows, and feared curled its way up the Columba Saint's spine. She needed to find a way out as fast as she could, or there was a chance she could get stuck here.

_I need to find where this attack is coming from so I can stop it._ She thought frantically, but the amount of Cosmo and concentration it was taking just to keep from being pulled into the dimension around her was already a heavy strain.

* * *

When Esmeralda had stepped off the edge into the abyss below, Aiolos had expected her to disappear. Instead, she had seemed to hang suspended in the air for a few moments before a familiar Cosmo had permeated the area, a technique that the Sagittarius Saint was all too familiar with.

He could see that it was taking all of the Columba Saint's effort to keep from being pulled into Saga's Another Dimension.

"This isn't working." Seiya growled. "We have to do something."

Aiolos agreed, but none of them could fly like Esmeralda. If any of them stepped into the affected area of Saga's attack they would be sucked in, and there would be no way to get back out.

"The only way to stop Saga is to interfere with Another Dimension. But that's not a simple task!" Aiolos shouted.

As though that was all he needed to hear, Ikki stepped forward.

"Hey Saga!" The Phoenix Saint yelled. "You really are a coward, aren't you? You're perfectly willing to use your powers from a distance, but you won't come out and fight us yourself? Don't you know it's dishonorable to use cheap tricks? I thought the Gold Saints were supposed to be the most powerful of Athena's protectors!"

As Aiolos wondered what in the world Ikki was trying to do, he felt Saga's Cosmo turn strange. The motion of Another Dimension slowed as the Gemini Saint's Cosmo twisted and morphed. It almost felt like the Gemini Saint was... fighting himself?

As Aiolos came to that realization, something appeared in the distance.

It was the Gemini Saint. Or, at least, the Gemini Cloth. Although the Cloth wasn't in its standby form, there was no face visible within the helmet, almost like the it was empty.

"There you are." Ikki said triumphantly, stepping into the darkness.

Instead of being sucked in, the Phoenix Saint simply floated in the air. A stream of fire shot from his hands, propelling him further into the empty space and towards the Gemini Cloth.

_This is it._ Aiolos realized. _I can stop Saga's Another Dimension. All I need is..._

Even as the thought came to the man, a familiar presence made itself known in his mind.

_Sagittarius?_ He wondered.

Sure enough, he could sense his Cloth, far above him where it rested in the House of Sagittarius.

A glow appeared in front of Aiolos, slowly taking solid form. It was the Bow of Sagittarius. Just the bow, but that was all he needed.

_"Ikki, Esmeralda."_ Aiolos called to the two Bronzes. _"Get the Gemini Cloth lined up with me. If I can shoot it, it should interfere with Saga's powers."_

He saw Esmeralda glance at him, and saw her nod slightly before she refocused her attention on the Gemini Cloth.

_"That, we can do."_ Ikki agreed.

"Stand back." Aiolos ordered the other Bronzes. They obeyed, giving Aiolos some space as he gripped his bow tightly, summoning one of his arrows and notching it on the string.

* * *

Ikki lunged for the Gemini Cloth, which floated out of the way, only for a gust of wind from Esmeralda to knock it to the side. Even though the Cloth appeared to be empty, it was ridiculously maneuverable, and getting it to go where they needed it was proving to be a challenge.

However, Neither Ikki nor Esmeralda was willing to give an inch. The two Bronze Saints dogged their opponent with attacks and feints, slowly forcing it closer to the edge of the empty space, closer to where Aiolos would be able to hit it.

"You really think a pair of mere Bronze Saints can overpower a Gold Saint?" Saga's voice spat disgustedly. Cosmo built up around the Gemini Cloth's hand, discharging in the form of a massive blast that Ikki didn't quite dodge in time. He bit back a yell as he was thrown backwards, pain exploding in his shoulder where he had been struck.

_"Just a little closer."_ Aiolos's voice echoed in Ikki's mind. _"One more shot should do it."_

The Phoenix Saint gritted his teeth. One shot was about all he had a chance to pull off. They would have to make it count.

Finding himself floating next to Esmeralda, Ikki shared a glance with his fellow Saint. An unspoken understanding passed between them, and they unleashed their attacks in perfect synch.

"Phoenix Rising Wings!"

"Swirling Gale!"

Esmeralda's wind attack mixed with Ikki's fire, turning the flames into a swirling inferno that impacted the Gemini Cloth with enough force to send it flying right into Aiolos's line of fire.

There was a sharp _twang!_ as the Sagittarius Saint loosed his arrow and Ikki saw the projectile fly true, disappearing into the empty pit that filled the helmet of the Gemini Cloth.

For several long seconds, nothing seemed to happen, but then the strange dimension around them started to morph, filling with a blinding light.

Ikki started at the feeling of being pulled, and instinctively tried to use his fire to propel himself towards Aiolos and the other Bronze Saints. It proved fruitless, however, and Ikki was dragged away into nothing.

* * *

Aiolos was forced to close his eyes against the bright light that began to spread from Saga's Another Dimension after he hit the Gemini Cloth with his arrow. When he opened them, the inside of the House of Gemini was back to normal. There were walls and a floor, and the exit was visible far ahead of them.

Esmeralda was sitting on the floor, visibly shaken. He didn't blame her, she had almost been trapped.

Walking over to the Columba Saint, Aiolos offered her a hand.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently.

The blonde girl nodded cautiously as she accepted the help up.

"I'm fine." She said slowly. Then she looked around. "Where's Ikki?"

"He was here when that dimension started to collapse." Shiryu said.

Aiolos glanced around, thinking quickly. A nasty though occurred to him.

"When it gets interrupted, Another Dimension can transport its victims almost anywhere." He finally admitted. "There's no way to know where Ikki ended up."

The implication of his words, that Ikki might not have survived, clearly wasn't lost on any of the young Bronzes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! I struggled a lot with this chapter, but I did get it out eventually.
> 
> Look forward to the next chapter.
> 
> See you soon!


	27. Severed Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The House of Cancer is an ugly, vile place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I'm being honest, I didn't expect this story to last this long. It was mostly supposed to be a rewrite of the movie, but it ended up snowballing into this and I love it.
> 
> Also, I appologize for the long wait. This chapter didn't feel right, and I only got past the block a few days ago, then had to write and edit it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Saint Seiya or any of the included characters. They all belong to Masami Kurumada.

* * *

_Oh._ Esmeralda thought as she stared ahead. _This is unpleasant._

The House of Aries had been almost welcoming, if a touch quiet. Taurus had felt overwhelming, but not in a particularly scary way. Gemini had felt strange.

Cancer, on the other hand, was just plain menacing. A dark aura seemed to permeate the fourth House and the area surrounding it, strong enough that Esmeralda could feel it even before she and the others reached the top of the last flight of steps.

It made her nervous, more than the lack of a guardian in the House of Aries or what had taken place in the House of Gemini had. Even Ikki's disappearance hadn't disturbed her the way the fourth House's aura did, and she was doing her best not to get distracted by her worry over her longtime friend.

"This is the House guarded by the guy who showed up when you went to visit your master in Lushan, right Shiryu?" Seiya asked, glancing at the Dragon Saint.

Shiryu nodded. "Cancer Deathmask." He said grimly. "The man who cuts the faces off his victims and hangs them on the wall of his House."

"That cannot be pleasant." Seiya muttered, shaking his head.

"He wasn't always that twisted, was he?" Shiryu asked, glancing at Aiolos as they started towards the entrance of the House.

The Sagittarius Saint pursed his lips. "No. Emilio was always a touch meaner than the others, but he was never cruel. Not as far as I know, at least."

Silence fell between the five Saints as they passed between the columns and entered the building.

The hallway in front of them was dark and cold, almost as much as the House of Gemini, but not in the same way, Esmeralda thought. The third House had felt empty and sort of sad, or maybe confused was a better word. The fourth felt evil like nothing the Columba Saint had ever experienced. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought.

Knowing what to expect when entering the fourth House was not nearly enough to prepare Esmeralda for what she saw.

Seiya let out an alarmed yelp from the front of the group as he took another step and his foot landed on something.

Looking down, Esmeralda realized that the Pegasus Saint had just stepped on a human face. On the floor.

Almost on cue, torches lit up at wide intervals along the walls, casting an eerie, flickering glow as they illuminated the wide corridor in front of them.

There were faces everywhere. Men, women, children, elders. The Saint of Cancer really didn't discriminate between who he killed. Nausea rolled in Esmeralda's stomach at the idea that this man could just kill people and hang their faces on his walls without an ounce of regret.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A voice sneered from ahead.

Dragging her gaze from the faces on the walls, Esmeralda scowled at the sight in front of her.

Cancer Deathmask, in all his glory-or lack thereof-stood before them, close enough to be heard along the corridor, but still with some distance between him and the group of Saints who had just entered his House.

Out of the corner of her eye, Esmeralda saw Aiolos's posture shift, not slumping really, but almost. As close as it could get without being obvious.

"You've got a lot of guts coming here, Aiolos." Deathmask said as he looked them over. "Especially bringing a bunch of Bronze Saints with you. You're just going to get them killed. Them and that imposter."

Aiolos glared back. "She's not an imposter. She's the real Athena."

"Oh, I know." Deathmask said. Esmeralda's eyes widened in shock, and around her the others all had similar reactions. "But she's in the way, so she has to go."

"In the way? What do you mean, 'in the way'?" Seiya demanded.

"I mean that a child can hardly protect the Earth. We Saints can do that just fine on our own."

* * *

"You can't be serious." Shiryu pointed out. "The Saints have never won a Holy War without Athena!"

"We've never _won_ a Holy War at all!" The Cancer Saint retorted. "Not under Athena's leadership. But this time will be different."

Aiolos shook his head. "No. You're just dooming humanity."

Deathmask scoffed. "I don't need to listen to this. I'll deal with you before you have a chance to get anywhere near the top of the Twelve Houses. Praesepe Underworld Waves!"

"Be careful!" Aiolos yelled. The Bronzes were all already on guard as swirls of light sprang from their opponent's fingers and began to curl around them.

"You're not going to get us!" Shiryu yelled, springing towards the Cancer Saint.

Before Aiolos or any of the other Bronze Saints had a chance to call for their companion to stop, the teenager was swallowed up by the light, disappearing.

"Where did he go?" Seiya demanded.

Deathmask cackled in glee. "I sent him to Yomotsu Hirasaka, the entrance to the Underworld. You don't need to worry though, you'll all be joining him soon enough!"

As the lights of the Cancer Saint's attack threatened to swallow them, Esmeralda came to a conclusion: they couldn't afford to all be caught by this man. Someone would have to be the sacrifice here.

"We're not going to be joining anyone!" Esmeralda spat out, and lunged for the Gold Saint.

Behind her, Esmeralda could hear the others calling for her, but she didn't have time to mind them as she grabbed Deathmask around the middle and hung on. As she did so, she called on her Cosmo, whipping up a whirlwind around them in the hopes that she could at least partially contain the Praesepe Waves and keep them away from the others. She was the only one who needed to go.

"Are you crazy?! What do you think you're doing?!" The Cancer Saint demanded.

"Taking... you... with me!" Esmeralda yelled back, voice strained as she clung stubbornly to the man.

Her heart raced. She well aware of how stupid this was, going into this practically blind, but she ignored the fear. It wasn't important, not now.

Deathmask struggled, fighting to free himself from her grasp, but Esmeralda hadn't survived sixteen years on Death Queen Island by giving up. Stubbornness was in her blood, just like the vicious winds that blew across the island of her birth.

* * *

Shiryu bit back a groan as he cracked his eyes open. He felt like he'd just been dumped in the Lushan falls and forced to the lake bed at the bottom, only he was hot and dry, instead of cold and wet.

Pushing himself up, the Dragon Saint looked around. He was lying on some sort of rock. It was a dark, mottled grey, and rough in texture. The spot where he lay was relatively even, but as he got a better look at his surroundings, he found that there were hills and valleys all over, laced with paths.

But that wasn't the truly eerie part of Shiryu's surroundings. No, what really made his breath catch was the _people._

All around him, there were lines of people walking in slow, even steps without stopping, moving with very little purpose even as they all seemed to be going in the same general direction.

 _Yomotsu Hirasaka._ The black-haired Saint realized. _The entrance to the Underworld. Deathmask's technique must have sent me here._

"Shiryu!" Esmeralda's voice caught his attention. "Are you okay?"

The Dragon Saint turned in the direction the Columba Saint's voice came from in time to see her facing off with Cancer Deathmask. He blinked. He'd fully expected, upon being sucked up by the Cancer Saint's technique, to be alone, or to be surrounded by the others. He couldn't imagine how only the blond girl had ended up here, instead of all of them

"I'm fine." The Dragon Saint answered his companion's question, standing up and making his way quickly to her side. "What happened? Where are the others?"

"Still in the House of Cancer, hopefully." Esmeralda answered. "I grabbed that one and dragged him here hoping to give the others a chance to move on to the House of Leo. It worked, I think."

Shiryu nodded. That was good. Being trapped at the entrance to the Underworld wasn't exactly ideal, but he was fairly sure he and Esmeralda could handle Deathmask, especially if they could figure out how to awaken the Seventh Sense.

And if Esmeralda's plan had worked and the others were still in the House of Cancer they would go on ahead. Aiolos would make sure of that.

"You're wasting too much time talking over there." Deathmask jeered, looking strangely amused. "Keep that up and I'll just leave you here to rot!"

Shiryu snarled in anger. He didn't generally take a disliking to others easily, but this particular Gold Saint was really pushing him to his limit.

"It's a good thing that we're done, then. You're not getting out of here!" Esmeralda told the Cancer Saint.

The two Bronzes didn't even need to share a look as they sprang forward, splitting up and moving to attack their adversary from both sides.

"Columba Piercing-" As Esmeralda started to throw her attack out, aiming straight for the Cancer Saint as she approached him, a faint glow started to grow around her. In an instant, almost as fast as Shiryu had been swallowed up by Deathmask's Underworld Waves, the Columba Saint was gone.

"Esmeralda!" Shiryu cried in alarm.

The moment of distraction proved to be the Dragon Saint's undoing, as Deathmask was suddenly in front of him.

"You should be more worried about yourself!" The Cancer Saint told Shiryu, and in an instant the Dragon Saint was thrown back, slamming into the ground. He was tossed several times before he rolled to a stop, face down on the rocks.

As he started to life his head, Shiryu was forced back to the ground, Deathmask's boot digging into his skull as he stepped on the Bronze Saint's head.

"Is that really all you Bronze Saints are made of?" Deathmask cackled.

Shiryu gritted his teeth. That was not all he was made of, and he wasn't going to be beaten so easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the... what chapter is this? Twenty-seventh. This is the twenty-seventh chapter, including the prologue.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. I appologize for the long wait, and hope to hear some feedback on what you thought!

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think?
> 
> Seriously, I really appreciate comments.


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